Local Resistance Leader Allegedly Threatens Villagers at Gunpoint Following Funeral Dispute in Depayin
Residents in Depayin Township, Sagaing Region, are calling for accountability after a local People’s Defense Organization (Pa-Ka-Fa) leader and his team allegedly used weapons to intimidate and threaten villagers following a dispute at a funeral home.
The incident occurred on the night of March 21 in a village in western Depayin. According to a local revolutionary comrade and three residents, the conflict began when the leader of the Ward-5 Pa-Ka-Fa and his members joined a traditional gambling circle at a local funeral.
“As is the village custom, people were playing cards at the funeral home. The Ward Pa-Ka-Fa leader and about seven members arrived. While four armed members went elsewhere, the leader and two others joined the card game,” a resident familiar with the incident told CJ Platform. “A dispute broke out during the game, and the Pa-Ka-Fa leader ended up holding a knife to a civilian’s throat.”
The argument reportedly started over seating space. Witnesses say that when a villager told the leader there was no room to move back, the leader became aggressive, eventually drawing a knife and smashing tables at the funeral home.
Although villagers initially tried to de-escalate the situation, the tension peaked after the Pa-Ka-Fa leader left and his armed comrades returned. “When the villagers followed the leader to a house to demand an explanation, his soldiers arrived with their guns drawn. They aimed their weapons at the crowd, ordered everyone to lie face down on the ground, and threatened to shoot anyone who refused,” a witness recounted.
Following the confrontation, the local People’s Security Force (Pa-La-Fa) took the Ward-5 Pa-Ka-Fa leader into custody. On March 22, the Township Pa-Ka-Fa leader visited the village to apologize for the subordinates’ behavior and promised that disciplinary action would be taken.
However, three days later, locals remain skeptical. “The township leader said they would take action, but we haven’t heard anything since,” a person close to the victim told CJ Platform. “They claim he is being detained, but we haven’t seen any evidence. We still don’t know how or if he is actually being punished.”
CJ Platform attempted to contact the Ward-5 Pa-Ka-Fa leader for comment, but communication lines in the region remain unstable.
The local community is demanding a fair and transparent investigation, emphasizing that the use of lethal weapons to intimidate and oppress the civilian population is an unacceptable abuse of power.