The entrance to Labutta Township (Myanmar Now)  

The 23-year-old was arrested after bombs were planted at two sites in Labutta Township, but the resistance groups that claimed responsibility for the incidents say he was not a member 

By Myanmar Now

A 23-year-old man from Ayeyarwady Region’s Labutta Township accused of involvement in local bomb attacks against the junta died on Sunday after less than two days in a military interrogation center, local sources said.

Kyaw Thu Win, from Satchaung village, was arrested on Friday after an undetonated explosive was found at a primary school in another area village and a homemade bomb exploded at the township administration office the night before.

He was among nine locals taken into junta custody following the incidents, including staff of the electricity office and teachers from the primary school in question.

“He was arrested on November 12 and died at the interrogation center. His family was notified at 4pm on November 14 that he had already been cremated,” a source close to Kyaw Thu Win’s family said.

Kyaw Thu Win’s father was also among those arrested, but no further information was available about his condition at the time of reporting.

A guerrilla force calling itself the Labutta Special Task Force claimed responsibility for the bomb attack on the electricity office and another group, the Genius of Revolution, claimed responsibility for the bomb found at the primary school, a member of the latter group told Myanmar Now

“We set up the bomb inside the school as a warning. It was not intended to be detonated in the first place. It was supposed to be a warning for the teachers and the parents of the students still not taking part in the CDM [Civil Disobedience Movement],” a spokesperson for the Labutta-based Genius of Revolution explained.

He said that Kyaw Thu Win was not a member of either guerrilla force.

“We would like to let [the military] know that he had no involvement with any resistance group whatsoever,” the spokesperson said.

“He didn’t even take part in the protests. He was just a regular civilian,” he explained, adding that Kyaw Thu Win was allegedly arrested for wearing a black face mask after encountering junta troops while travelling between villages in the township.

Guerrilla attacks on the junta’s infrastructure escalated in Ayeyarwady Region after the shadow National Unity Government announced the start of a “resistance war” against the military on September 7. The junta responded by carrying out more frequent arrests.

Original Post: Myanmar Now