RAKHINE STATE- In U-Daung Village, the southern part of Maungdaw Township, the battalion of Mawyawaddy Border Guard Division 4 reportedly seized seventy buffaloes and filed a case against the owner on Monday (August 28).
The owner, 62-year-old Mr. Shwe Thein Maung, a resident of U-Daung Village, was feeding the buffaloes 400 meters east of Maungdaw-Angu Maw road when he was arrested by the Junta troops.
Later, a case was opened against him under Section 5 of the Goods and Services Law and he was remanded in custody at the Maungdaw District Court, according to his family.
Mr. Shwe Thein Maung’s son said, “Yesterday, my father was tending and feeding buffalo when military council troops and personnel arrived in 6 cars and arrested him. A case has been filed and remand has been obtained at the court today (August 28).”
The confiscated buffaloes do not belong to a single person, Mr.Shwe Thein Maung. He owns forty of them. Seven buffaloes belonged to his father, Mr. Kyaw Zaw Aung, and 23 of them belonged to his younger brother, Mr. Thein Aung Gyi, stated his family.
His father, Mr. Kyaw Zo Aung said, “These buffaloes are owned by our family, not by a single person. Now he was arrested on suspicion of illegal trafficking. We are facing the court and solve it,” he said.
In the southern villages of Maungdaw Township and Yathaetaung Township, due to the increase in the cost of farming, fewer farmers grow crops and raise more cows according to local market demand.
Due to the impact of cyclone Mocha in May, around 2,000 buffaloes and cows were reportedly killed in Maungdaw Region.