IMNA : A massage and restaurant owner who ran his business along the Thai-Burma border was killed near Boe Pow Yeik Tha last night, according to the witness.
He owner of the massage and restaurant facility, Saw Than Aung, 38, was a member of the Karen ceasefire group the Karen Peace Council (KPC). IMNA has learned, that in addition Saw Than Aung had previously been a member of the Karen Peace Force (KPF).
Both the KPC and KPF are pro government Karen ceasefire groups that split from the Karen National Union’s (KNU) armed wing in 2007 and 1997 respectively. The KPF and KPC are not militarily engaged with each other.
According to a witness, people found the body near an older persons retirement home in quarter No. 4, Three Pagoda Pass (TPP) Township. The mouth and neck were bound with copper wire rope, the face and head had been hacked at by a knife and the body then put in a hammock.
Saw Than Aung has been missing since 9 pm last night after left to go back home from his massage shop, but didn’t arrived home by dawn, said a source that had been close to him.
The witness who found the body informed the local Burmese authorities after which it was sent to the mortuary. An investigation by police has not yet been started.
The source close to Saw Than Aung, told IMNA that Saw Than Aung also used to sell amphetamines when he was with the KPF. It is not clear when Saw Than Aung shifted his allegiance from the KPF to the KPC.
His massage shop had been open about 3 years. Only two massage shops with restaurants are open in TPP Town.
