Publication Date : 27-02-2013
Thirty police officers and 15 farmers were injured in clashes yesterday afternoon after a land dispute between farmers and a fish-farm operator in Ayeyawady Region’s Maubin Township turned violent, residents said.
One police private died in Yangon General Hospital from head injuries sustained in yesterday’s violence, hospital staff said.
Unconfirmed reports said four farmers were shot in the clashes over what they described as the theft of their land in Maletto village tract.
One police private died in Yangon General Hospital from head injuries sustained in yesterday’s violence, hospital staff said.
Farmers said a curfew had been imposed in the area but a large crowd continued to gather outside the protest site today and locals described the mood as tense.
Farmers blamed police for the clashes, saying the 300 police called in to maintain public order began assaulting them at about 5.30pm. They said the injuries occurred after they began fighting back.
An employee of the company that operates the fish ponds blamed farmers for the violence. "The villagers destroyed five fish-pond embankments belonging to the company, saying they owned the land,” said Nge Le, of Orchid Agriculture and Livestock Company.
“We told them not to do that. Police also asked the crowd to disperse. At about 6pm, clashes occurred between the farmers and police causing injuries to both sides," he said.
Ko Htaik Htaik, a member of Pyokhinthit Social Organisation in the township, said the farmers had been demanding “the return of their land for six days”.
"At about 1pm, authorities imposed a curfew,” he said. “Police ordered the farmers to disperse but they didn’t. Clashes broke out at about 6 pm," Ko Htaik Htaik said.
"Twenty-nine police were injured. One was sent to Yangon General Hospital. I heard 11 villagers were injured and four of them had bullet wounds. I also heard that two died in the clashes,” he said.
A police officer at Maubin Township Police Station told Eleven Media that he had “no authority to talk about the incident. Relevant authorities are at the scene."
He also declined to confirm or deny that a curfew had been imposed.
Nyein Maung, a farmer from Palaung village who was injured in the clash, said that district commissioner Aye Thaung had met with farmers at noon and told them they had to disperse because a curfew had been imposed.
“At about 5:30pm, a 300-strong police force started hitting about 150 villagers. We got injured when we responded to them. Five women and six men were injured,” Nyein Maung said.
As of 11am today the number of people hospitalised as a result of the clash was 42, according to hospital staff. They said 27 police and 15 farmers had been hospitalised. Kyaw Thu, a police private, died in Yangon General Hospital from head wounds this morning.
The number of injured farmers could be higher. Some of the injured farmers are hiding because they fear arrest, Ko Htaik Htaik said.
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