Ye Naing Aung (Supplied)

The 27-year-old shopkeeper from Htantabin Township was arrested as a suspect immediately following a bomb attack on a village administration office

By Myanmar Now

A 27-year-old man from Bago Region’s Htantabin Township died on Tuesday in junta custody, one day after he was arrested as a suspect following a bomb attack on a local administration office.

Ye Naing Aung, who ran an electronics and mohinga shop in Nat village, was reportedly the sole person taken into junta custody just half an hour after a bomb exploded at the village’s administration office on Monday.

Resistance forces nationwide have carried out bomb attacks against the junta’s administrative mechanism in recent months, but no group had claimed responsibility for the explosion in Nat at the time of reporting.

It is not known why Ye Naing Aung was singled out for arrest.

He was taken to the Htantabin police station by soldiers, police officers and men believed to be military informants.

Ye Naing Aung’s family went to the police station to check on him later that day, but were reportedly barred from meeting him.

On Tuesday, they were notified that Ye Naing Aung had died and they needed to collect his body, according to a relative. He was reportedly buried shortly after.

“He was arrested for no reason at all. We only know that he was suspected of being involved in the bomb attack,” the relative said.

The individual described Ye Naing Aung as “always willing to help out in the neighbourhood” and said he had “no enemies.”

A villager from Nat told Myanmar Now that Ye Naing Aung occasionally took part in anti-junta protests, but did not hold a prominent or leading role in the demonstrations.

Ye Naing Aung was the youngest of three siblings and was unmarried.

Myanmar Now tried to contact the Htantabin central police station regarding Ye Naing Aung’s death but the officer on duty refused to provide comment.

According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, as of Wednesday, 1,252 people had been killed by the junta’s armed forces since Myanmar’s February 1 coup.

Burmese version.

Original Post: Myanmar Now