More than a dozen people, including an elderly woman and her three daughters, have been arrested in Mandalay over the past week for alleged anti-regime activities, according to sources.
Myint Myint Than, 70, was arrested along with her daughters at their stationary store in the city’s Chanayethazan Township at around 3pm on Sunday, a woman living in the area told Myanmar Now.
“She had written a comment urging resistance forces to take care for their safety under a post announcing their plans to begin anti-junta activities in Yangon,” said the woman, who did not want to be identified.
“Her comment was posted by pro-regime Telegram users, who urged the military to arrest her, which they did, just hours later. They even took her daughters,” she added.
After taking Myint Myint Than and her daughters into custody, junta authorities sealed her shop and home, claiming they had found uniforms linking them to the National League of Democracy, the ruling party ousted by the February 2021 coup.
“They took photos of the uniforms and then put up a sign when they sealed the three-storey house and store,” said the woman, who suggested that the regime was making an example of Myint Myint Than as a warning to others.
The pro-junta Telegram channels also accused Myint Myint Than and her daughters of funding the shadow National Unity Government (NUG) and its armed wing, the People’s Defence Force, both designated as terrorist organisations by the regime.
Photos posted on pro-junta Telegram channels show Myint Myint Than (top left) and her three daughters following their arrest in Mandalay on August 13
A day earlier, there were also reports that a 25-year-old woman and 45-year-old man had been arrested in Mandalay’s Chanmyathazi Township for allegedly “harassing the commander-in-chief online.”
This followed a series of raids carried out earlier in the week on pubs and teashops in Chanmyathazi and Aungmyaythazan townships, in which a total of six people, all men, were arrested and taken away with black bags over their heads.
While there was some suspicion that the raids were staged to instil fear in locals, the junta later released a statement claiming that the men were all members of an urban guerrilla group.
There were also reports of another man being arrested in Mandalay’s Maha Aungmyay Township on Monday, allegedly for taking part in military training. Further details were not available at the time of reporting.
Last Wednesday, the regime also re-arrested Nwe Nwe Win, chair of Shwe Mahar Nwe, a Mandalay-based social welfare organisation. She had previously been released from prison as part of amnesty by the junta earlier in the year.
The regime also made multiple arrests in Mandalay earlier this month and in late July. Among those detained were two teachers accused of participating in an NUG-run online education program.
While pro-junta Telegram channels regularly post information related to arrests targeting alleged regime opponents, the military council almost never releases any official statement.
