Junta cracks down on residents of Myanmar’s Kale township

A junta slipknot is tightening in Sagaing region’s Kale township, as troops guard every intersection, conducting door-to-door searches and arresting people suspected of being involved in pro-democracy politics, locals told RFA Burmese Wednesday.

Five people were arrested between June 1 and June 14, said residents who didn’t want to be identified for fear of reprisals.

At night troops go from home to home, checking household registration lists, they said. They also stop motorcycles and question riders and passengers.

As a result of the searches they arrested Pau Suan Khual, Su Su Win, Thiri Lin, Mary San and Naing Htwe.

“The junta council troops conduct casual checks in Kale city every day, targeting young people who are on motorbikes and checking  their phones,” said a Kale resident who declined to be named. 

“People are arrested if they are suspected of being involved in politics.”

The five people, believed to be in their twenties, were taken to the Military Regional Command Headquarters interrogation center in Kale township.

Residents said police and soldiers also threaten passers-by and demand money from them.

RFA called Sagaing region junta spokesperson Aye Hlaing Wednesday but nobody answered.

One man died during interrogation after being arrested on May 19. 

Salai Ram Lian Pan, 29, was detained at a junta checkpoint as he tried to ride his motorbike across the township.

On June 7, junta authorities told the family to pick up his dead body.

The National League for Democracy, a party ostensibly dissolved by the government this year even though it won a landslide victory in elections before the Feb. 2021 coup, said Tuesday that 3,818 civilians, including 93 NLD members have been killed since the military takeover.

Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Mike Firn.