Khin Maung Oo is accused of helping instigate an attack against NLD supporters ahead of last year’s election.
A prominent local supporter of the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) was shot last week in the Sagaing Region town of Kanbalu but survived the attack, local residents said.
Khin Maung Oo, who received an award from the party in January after supporting it during last year’s election, is accused of informing authorities about the activities of anti-coup protesters in the area.
On the evening of June 17, two gunmen came to his house and shot him, according to several Kanbalu residents who spoke to Myanmar Now. He is now receiving treatment in Mandalay, the residents said.
Earlier this month a local anti-regime guerilla group killed a police officer in an attack in Kanbalu, but no group has taken responsibility for the attack on Khin Maung Oo.
A well-known town’s elder in Kanbalu named Nyan Min Tun has been detained in relation to the shooting, a relative told Myanmar Now.
“They tried to put all the blame on Nyan Min Tun and raided his house the same day of the attack,” she said.
He was not home during the raid, but the next day authorities came to his house again and brought him to the police station, she added.
“They told him to come to the police station for a bit as they had questions to ask him regarding the incident. And then they didn’t let him go,” she said.
Nyan Min Tun has not been charged in relation to the shooting; instead he is now being hit with an incitement charge under section 505a of the Penal Code. The supposed justification for the charge is unclear.
Khin Maung Oo is a former employee of the General Administration Department. He was an active member of the United Democratic Party (UDP) before it was dissolved ahead of the 2020 elections, according to Kanbalu locals.
After Myanmar Now published a report on the UDP’s wealthy fugitive chair Kyaw Myint, the Union Election Commission probed the party and dissolved it in October 2020.
Khin Maung Oo then became heavily involved in the USDP election campaign in Kanbalu.
During the campaign, a USDP mob beat an NLD supporter to death in Kanbalu Township’s Karboe village. Khin Maung Oo was taken in for questioning by the police after the incident.
He was not charged, but local residents alleged that he was one of the USDP members who instigated the Karboe attack. Khin Maung Oo did not answer calls seeking comment on the allegations against him.
A photo from January shows Khin Maung Oo accepting an award from a USDP party representative, though it is unclear what the award was for.
Last week armed USDP members attacked NLD supporters in Kanbalu’s Yi Dway village and burned down four homes.
source myanmar-now