A police official in Tharsi Township, Mandalay, is under investigation after reportedly being abducted by two detained men suspected of drug crimes.

On 19 November, Police Superintendent Aung Zaw Oo was escorting the two men to Tharsi Township court in a vehicle that was seized in connection with the drug-related case. The court appearance was scheduled to extend the remand of the two accused.

The officer’s wife, Saw Hnin Wai and her friend Myo Thiri San were reportedly riding in the vehicle at the time of the apparent abduction which occurred when the group was traveling near the village of Kungyangon.

Allegedly, the suspects removed their handcuffs and began choking Aung Zaw Oo, before a man identified as the brother of one of the accused entered the vehicle, removed Myo Thiri San, and drove the vehicle to Shan State with the remaining individuals still in the car.

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Mandalay Division and Shan State police began a manhunt in the towns of Kalaw, Aungban and Heho – where they eventually managed to detain the suspects the following day. One of the men was apprehended in Kalaw, while the other and his brother were found in Taunggyi.

The police officer and his wife were found in Heho, despite the vehicle being recovered in Kalaw.

Burmese state-media reported that the two suspects have been charged under Article 224 of the Penal Code for evading arrest, and the brother of one suspect was charged under Article 225 for assisting the two in evading arrest.