Myanmar coup: 19 policemen seek shelter in India to avoid military junta’s violent crackdown

‘They got instructions from the military rule, which they cannot obey so they have run away,’ Indian officer said

Dozens of people have been killed in Myanmar since February 1 coup as security forces have responded with increasing force

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Riot police officers in Yangon. Photo: EPA

Published: 8:33pm, 4 Mar 2021Updated: 8:45pm, 4 Mar 2021

At least 19 Myanmar police have crossed into India to escape taking orders from a military junta that is trying to suppress protests against last month’s coup, an Indian police official said on Thursday, adding that more were expected.

The men have crossed into Champhai and Serchhip, two districts in the northeastern state of Mizoram that share a porous border with Myanmar, the official said, declining to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue.

All the men, who are lower-ranking policemen, were unarmed, the official said. “We are expecting more to come,” he said, citing intelligence reports.

There have been several instances recounted on social media of police joining the civil disobedience movement and protests against the junta, with some arrested, but this is the first reported case of police fleeing Myanmar.

The official said that the policemen crossed over fearing persecution for disobeying orders and would be temporarily housed by local Indian authorities.

“They didn’t want to take orders against the civil disobedience movement,” he said, referring to the agitation in Myanmar calling for the reversal of the February 1 coup and the release of elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Of the 19, three Myanmar policemen came across the border near the town of North Vanlaiphai in Serchhip district on Wednesday afternoon and authorities there were assessing their health, another police official said.