“Shoot to death” commando … abandons family and escapes from Myanmar police

On the 8th (local time), the police are suppressing protests against the coup in Yanggun, the largest city in Myanmar.[AFP=연합뉴스]

Ta Peng, 27, a Myanmar police officer just a month ago, is now in India. After refusing orders from his superiors to “shoot to death” at the protesters, he crossed the border to escape reprisals.

According to Reuters, on the 10th, he was put in a crackdown on protests in the city of Kampat, Myanmar, on the 27th of last month. His superior ordered to shoot, but said he refused. However, the next day, he said, he received a call asking, “Would you like to shoot (next time)?” Finally, after leaving police work, he left Myanmar on Day 1, leaving his family behind. He only moved at night to avoid being discovered, and on the 3rd he reached Mizoram, northeast India.

He told Reuters he “had no other choice.” “We did not have the courage to shoot our people, the peaceful protesters.” Ta Peng said: “According to police regulations, Myanmar police can fire rubber pistols at protesters or fire live ammunition below the knees,” Ta Peng said. However, he said he received orders from his bosses to “shoot him to death”. “I want to see my family, but I don’t want to go back to Myanmar for fear of the military,” he said.

Ta Peng said that six fellow police officers besides himself did not follow their superior’s dismissal order during the protests on the 27th.

The border between Myanmar and India is 1643 km. According to Reuters, citizens of Myanmar are free to enter the territory of India for a few miles without a travel permit. Due to this special environment, a significant number of Rohingya refugees are currently in Mizoram, which is close to Myanmar. According to a senior Indian official, some 100 people arrived in the area even after the military coup in Myanmar. The official’s message is that many of them are police officers and their families.

Earlier, in an official letter sent to the Indian government, the Myanmar military also demanded that “in order to maintain friendly relations between the two countries, they hand over the police on the territory of India.”

Another Myanmar police officer, Ngun Hlei, 23, who is in Mizoram, said he was ordered to shoot at protesters. Dal, 24, who was an administrative police officer in Myanmar, was also brought to the scene as protests escalated as he made a list of detainees. He said he crossed the border after he was ordered to arrest a protester and turn her away.

The three policemen interviewed with Reuters reported that there are many supporters of the civil disobedience movement within the Myanmar police. Ta Peng said that “90% of the police support the protests,” Ta Peng said.

Recently, ‘uniform certification photos’ of police officers supporting the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) are constantly posted on Myanmar’s local social media (SNS). According to the local media, Irrawaddy, on the 5th, more than 600 policemen have joined the civil disobedience movement opposing the military coup until today.

In Myanmar, more than 60 people have been killed by gunfire and violence by the military and police since the coup on 1 last month, and more than 1,800 have been arrested.

Reporter Jeong Eun-hye [email protected]