YANGON • The headless body of a Muslim villager was found days after he spoke to reporters on a rare government-guided media tour of restive northern Rakhine State, Myanmar police have said.
Troops have taken control of the dangerous and remote region bordering Bangladesh since Oct 9, when armed men raided police posts, killing nine officers.
At least 34,000 Rohingya Muslims have since fled to Bangladesh, taking with them allegations of mass killings, rape and torture at the hands of Myanmar security forces.
The Myanmar government has vigorously denied the accusations, setting off the latest war of words over the Rohingya.
Police did not explain the killing of the 41-year-old man, whose body was found floating in a river, but said he spoke to Myanmar journalists last Wednesday in Ngakhura village.
Troops have killed more than 80 people in Rakhine since the start of the crackdown, according to official figures. The International Crisis Group said militants behind the border-post attacks have also killed several Rohingya "informers" perceived to be working with the authorities.
In a statement last Friday, the President's Office confirmed that a man - whom they identified as Shu Nar Myar - had been killed, adding that he had denied stories of military abuse when speaking to the reporters.
"Shu Nar Myar is the one who revealed that there was no case of arson by the military and police forces, no rape and no unjust arrests," the statement said.
Two Myanmar reporters, who did not want to be named, told Agence France-Presse that they interviewed the man last Wednesday at his village and had been contacted by police to say he was missing.
The rare media tour of the area - open only to Myanmar journalists - was organised by the government amid mounting pressure on de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi to allow access to the conflict zone. Her government has responded to growing international alarm over the crisis with a dogged information campaign aimed at batting back reports of military abuse.
Northern Rakhine has been under lockdown for more than two months since the hundreds of armed militants launched surprise attacks on border posts.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
