YANGON — The chairman of the Hpakant Motor Vehicles Supervisory Committee in Kachin State’s Hpakant Township was shot dead by a group of unidentified gunmen on Tuesday around noon.
Police from Hpakant Township police station confirmed the death but said they were “still collecting information to identify the suspects,” a police officer on duty told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday.
U Khin Soe, who is also the owner of the Chan Myay Si Bus Line, was sitting at his own bus station in the ward of Mashi Kataung in Hpakant when four bikers came on two bikes and fatally shot him. He was shot one time in his head and three times in his abdomen, according to locals.
“He is an ethnic Shanni man. He was shot dead while he was at his bus station. I don’t know why he was shot,” said Hpakant local U Khin Maung Lwin, who was at the crime scene.
There have been frequent shootings in Hpakant, mostly targeted at ethnic Shanni (also known as Red Shan) politicians and businesspeople since 2015, according to locals. Five Shanni people were killed from the start of 2015 to Dec. 19, 2017, and the victims were either members of political parties or businesspeople.
