A man in Arakan State’s Rathedaung died following a confrontation with police which broke out when officers tried to arrest his relative, who is alleged to have escaped from jail earlier this year.

Six men reportedly broke out of Zedipyin police station on 17 March after being arrested for disturbing a public servant in the line of duty. They allegedly made the jailbreak using a longyi (a traditional item of male clothing in Burma) to pull metal bars off their cell.

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A Zedipyin officer told DVB that police had visited the village of Auknan where they hoped to apprehend one of the escaped suspects following a tip-off.

“We rearrested one of the six, identified as Karala, also known as Iman Hussain, who is 37. During the arrest, a relative of his grabbed a sword and fought back.

“The police opened fire in self-defence, and he fled. His body, still holding the sword, was found south of the house on the morning of 10 June,” said the officer, adding that the Zedipyin police have opened an investigation into the circumstances around his death.

The cause of death, as well as the name and age of the deceased, are as yet unknown.

The officer said the five other fugitives were believed to be hiding in nearby villages or to have fled across the border to Bangladesh. Local authorities have alerted their Bangladeshi counterparts in an effort to find them, he said.