Junta forces in Sagaing Region ransacked the home of a couple and arrested them after their son abandoned his post as a police sergeant and joined the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM), a friend of the family told Myanmar Now.
Zaw Min Win, 40, left behind his wife and two daughters, a teenager and a toddler, at the police housing complex where he lived in Yinmarbin Township when he deserted on Friday morning.
“He took his weapons with him. His wife was still at their police residence. He just left without discussing it with her,” said the family friend.
Zaw Min Win was not involved in violent crackdowns on anti-coup activities in the area, the friend said, adding that his job was desk-based.
On the day he defected, around 15 armed men in a police vehicle and a civilian vehicle arrived at the home of Zaw Min Win’s parents in Ywar Tharyar village, one mile from Yinmarbin.
A resident of the village said the men arrested Mya Lay, the father, and Htay Yi, the mother, both aged 60, after ransacking their home for 30 minutes.
“They were plain clothed but fully armed,” said the resident. “They raided his parents’ house, destroying all their wardrobes and boxes.”
The couple are being held at the Yinmarbin Township police station, the family friend said. “It’s really sad. They’re really old and the pandemic is getting worse. We’re worried about their health,” they said.
Zaw Min Win was promoted to sergeant after the coup and has been a police officer for 20 years.
An activist from Ywar Tharyar said that the parents’ arrest, like those of other family members of people who have opposed the junta, was intended to scare people out of joining the CDM.
“They’re making an example out of him by committing such a lawless and cruel crime so that other police officers won’t do the same as him,” he said.
Fighting broke out in Yinmarbin in April between local resistance fighters and the junta’s forces after soldiers raided the village of Thabyay Aye.
