World

Shoot till they are dead: Some Myanmar cops say they fled to India after refusing orders

Shoot till they are dead: Some Myanmar cops say they fled to India after refusing orders

TIL Desk/World/Yangon/ When Tha Peng was ordered to shoot at protesters with his submachine gun to disperse them in the Myanmar town of Khampat on Feb 27, the police lance corporal said he refused.

“The next day, an officer called to ask me if I will shoot,” he said. The 27-year-old refused again, and then resigned from the force.

On March 1, he said he left his home and family behind in Khampat and travelled for three days, mostly at night to avoid detection, before crossing into Mizoram state.

“I had no choice,” Tha Peng told in an interview on Tuesday, speaking via a translator. He gave only part of his name to protect his identity. Reuters saw his police and national ID cards which confirmed the name.

Tha Peng said he and six colleagues all disobeyed the Feb 27 order from a superior officer, whom he did not name. Reuters could not independently verify his or other accounts gathered near the Myanmar-India border.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *