The military junta arrested six individuals in Paung Township, Mon State, on February 24, including the township’s Fire Services Department chief, the deputy director of the General Administration Department, and local business owners, according to sources close to the junta.
The arrested individuals include U Myat Ko Ko, the head of Paung Township’s Fire Services Department; U Kyaw Myo Hlaing, the deputy director of the General Administration Department; Ko Zarni, a Royal Border guesthouse owner; and business owners Ko Moe Ngae, U Zaw Win Myit, and Daw Kyawn Kyawn San. Junta troops reportedly carried out the arrests at their respective residences with a large force.
Sources affiliated with the junta claim the arrests were made on allegations that the individuals were providing financial and material support to the People’s Defense Force (PDF).
Additionally, on February 21, the junta also arrested U Ye Tun Naing, a Kyushin (martial arts) teacher from Uttantar village in Paung Township. There are suspicions that his arrest may be linked to the latest round of detentions.
“Around the time the police arrested teacher U Ye Tun Naing, they proceeded to arrest the others in connection with him,” a source close to the junta said.
The whereabouts of those detained remain unknown, and they are not being held at the Paung Township police station, causing growing concern among their families, according to relatives and sources close to them.
Earlier this month, on February 3, at least 20 residents from Uttantar village were arrested following the junta’s discovery of multiple improvised explosive devices under a bridge near the Yangon-Mawlamyine highway, between Uttantar village and the Moe Naing neighborhood in Paung.
