A Buddhist monk believed to be involved in organising pro-regime militias died in resistance custody in Sagaing Region’s Chaung-U Township on Tuesday, a week after he was detained by forces under the National Unity Government (NUG), according to local residents and media reports.
The Chaung-U Township People’s Defence Organisation (PDO) reportedly arrested Ashin Indacara, 52, in Shwedakya, a village located about seven miles west of the town of Chaung-U, along with four residents on August 18.
Three members of the resistance People’s Defence Force (PDF) were also arrested at their homes that day by the township’s People’s Security Organisation (PSO), but were later released following questioning, local sources said.
On Sunday (August 23), the PDO handed the monk over to the PSO for further interrogation. According to residents, his body was returned to the village on Tuesday and cremated the same day.
Some local media reports, citing residents, said marks consistent with beatings were visible on the monk’s back and legs and that he had wounds where his toenails had been removed. Those details could not be independently verified.
A communications and information officer for the Chaung-U Township PDO told Myanmar Now that the monk was in good health when he was transferred to the PSO, but declined to discuss the investigation into his alleged links to the pro-junta Pyu Saw Htee militia.
“The reason for the arrest was that we received reports that this monk and a man named Win Naing Oo from their village were taking the lead in organising a Pyu Saw Htee group connected to the junta,” the officer said.
The officer said both the PDO and PSO interrogated the detainees, but that the results of the investigation could not yet be disclosed.
The NUG said it was aware of the monk’s death and that the circumstances should be determined through a medical examination and investigation.
Kyaw Ni, the NUG’s deputy minister for home affairs, said on Wednesday that people had been detained after authorities received information that they were recruiting Pyu Saw Htee members.
He added that “those holding detainees are responsible for any deaths that occur in custody.”
The NUG says the PSO, which handles policing and law enforcement, has been placed under the authority of the Sagaing Federal Unit, which would therefore be responsible for handling the case. The Chaung-U Township PSO did not respond to inquiries. Requests for comment from the Sagaing Federal Unit also had not received a response as of late Thursday.
On Friday, junta-controlled state media accused PDF “terrorists” of abducting Ashin Indacara and seven civilians at the Shwetheindaw Monastery in Shwedakya on the night of August 18 and later torturing the monk to death.
According to the Global New Light of Myanmar, the monk was beaten with sticks, burned, and cut with a knife before dying from his injuries. The junta also accused the resistance of fabricating medical records and spreading false information to conceal the monk’s death.
Chaung-U Township is located just south of the Sagaing Region capital Monywa, which is also the seat of the junta’s Northwestern Regional Military Command. Apart from its administrative centre, the township is largely controlled by resistance forces.
