The military regime on Saturday arrested a renowned charity leader and some seven other people in Mandalay City, apparently to punish them for their role in the funeral of democracy leader Dr. Zaw Myint Maung.
Around 20 plainclothes junta personnel arrived in civilian cars at the head office of Parahita Min Kaung a.k.a. M-Rescue in Aung Chantha village in Patheingyi Township near Obo Prison, sources said. They arrested M-Rescue chairman U Khin Maung Tint and seven others including a 14-year-old child.
A source close to the charity said: “I heard the chairman and office staff were arrested. Around seven or eight people including a 14-year-old boy were arrested. U Khin Maung Tint’s family remain at their home. We don’t know why he was taken.”
Local media outlets MDY Revolution and Voice of Mandalay said the detainees were taken to the administrative capital Naypyitaw to be investigated for their attendance at former Mandalay Region chief minister Dr. Zaw Myint Maung’s funeral.
The funeral on Oct. 8 was attended by tens of thousands and turned into a spontaneous show of resistance against the junta. M-Rescue assisted with the funeral and used its ambulances to carry wreaths and hampers.
The media outlets said staff from other charities that attended the funeral were also taken to Naypyitaw for investigation, but The Irrawaddy was unable to verify the claim.
One source close to the charity said: “I heard they were accused of supplying [anti-regime groups] using Dr. Zaw Myint Maung’s funeral as a cover. The detainees were apparently forced to make phone calls to their colleagues who are still at large.”
A source close to the police said the M-Rescue case “was directly handled by the upper echelons. Agencies at the lower level did not know. People dare not visit U Khin Maung Tint’s home now. The regime has not yet sealed off the house and office. We still don’t know why they are being investigated.”
Some locals speculated that the case is linked to internecine squabbles in the military which saw the son-in-law of ex-dictator Than Shwe arrested last week.
One Mandalay resident said: “You’d think the regime would have investigated them immediately after Dr. Zaw Myint Maung’s funeral. But they only came for them after the arrest of Dr. Nay Soe Maung. Dr. Nay Soe Maung engages in charity work, and M-Rescue is a charity known across the country. So my guess is that the two cases are related.”
Similar charities in Mandalay are on edge after the arrest. One member of a local charity said: “They are treating us with suspicion. Once someone posts about us on [pro-junta] Telegram channels, we can get arrested for trivial things. Even charity workers don’t feel safe now.”
Parahita Min Kaung Ambulance and Rescue Services, which provides free ambulance and funeral services, played a vital role in relief work during the pandemic and in delivering humanitarian supplies to victims of recent floods.
The charity posts about its activities daily, but its last online activity was recorded on the morning of Oct. 27. The phones of the charity office and chairman are turned off.
The Irrawaddy was unable to obtain comment from the junta’s Mandalay Region spokesman Thein Htay.
