Four police officers reportedly remain in the custody of an as-yet unconfirmed armed group in Tarmohnye sub-township of northern Shan State’s Kutkai Township. 

The officers, from a police camp in Mongsi village tract, were reportedly detained by the group on September 29. Among them are a police lieutenant, a second lieutenant, a sergeant and a lance corporal. According to the commander of Shan State’s police, they have yet to be released. 

“Negotiations are still underway. I haven’t gotten any updated information about it. I don’t know exactly which armed organization has done it,” Police Brig-Gen Zaw Khin Aung told SHAN. 

Zaw Khin Aung said that an officer in the armed group in question had called the wife of one of the detained policemen on the phone and allegedly told her not to worry and that her husband would be released. 

“They promised they would release the police officers after their investigation was over. I haven’t gotten an official report about it,” the police brigadier-general explained. 

The Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, and the Kachin Independence Army are active in the Tarmohnye area. 

Maj Tar Aik Kyaw, who is in charge of the TNLA’s information department, told media outlets that their soldiers had arrested police officers after receiving reports that plainclothes policemen had collected money from people in Mongsi village tract. 

SHAN tried to contact the TNLA for further information, or to confirm the previous comment, but received no response.