Junta troops raided the homes of three elected National League for Democracy (NLD) parliamentarians in Sagaing Region’s Depayin Township on Wednesday afternoon, arresting members of their families when the MPs themselves could not be located.
Citing eyewitness accounts, a source close to the NLD said that two of the houses were located in the village of Saing Pyin—10 miles from Depayin town—and were targeted simultaneously. They belonged to Lower House parliamentarian Win Myint Aung and regional parliamentarian Moe Min Win, both of whom had long gone into hiding elsewhere.
“They took everything party-related that they found in Win Myint Aung’s home as he was the chair of the [NLD’s] Depayin Township chapter. In short, they took everything that was red,” he said, referring to the colour associated with the party, whose government was ousted in the February 1 coup.
Khin Ohn Myint—Win Myint Aung’s wife—and his son were arrested, along with the MP’s brother, San Lin.
Moe Moe Win’s brother, Mhat San, and his nephew were also taken away by the soldiers.
Local sources said that the detained relatives were being held at the Saing Pyin police station, but Myanmar Now could not verify their whereabouts at the time of reporting.
The home of Depayin’s other regional MP, Hnin Khaing Soe, was also raided on Wednesday, the NLD source said.
Her family members were reportedly not detained because they were infected with Covid-19.
“I heard that […] Hnin Khaing Soe’s family was spared as they were on oxygen because of Covid-19,” said another source who is also close to the MP’s family.
The source said that she did not know what prompted the raid or what items were taken from Hnin Khaing Soe’s home, noting that her home was also searched in June by junta troops who seized her computer at that time.
It has become a common practice of the military to arrest the family members of NLD MPs and anti-coup activists who their troops cannot locate.
Depayin is known as an NLD stronghold, and saw intense protests against the military council following the coup, which was carried out after army chief Min Aung Hlaing accused the party of fraud in the 2020 general election. No credible evidence has been presented to support the claim, but Min Aung Hlaing was nearing mandatory retirement from the military at the time he seized power.
In an effort to crush the anti-coup resistance Depayin Township, soldiers have carried out raids on villages since April, displacing tens of thousands. The most recent raid started on August 8, forcing residents of some 20 villages to flee.
