The administrator of Thinpyo village in Mandalay’s Kyaukse Township was shot three times and died on Monday evening while announcing through a megaphone that residents needed to pay their electricity bills or face a power cut.
A local resistance force calling itself the Dragon Kyaukse Defence Force (DKDF) released a statement just hours after the assassination claiming responsibility for the killing of 50-year-old Thein Htay.
A spokesperson for the group alleged that Thein Htay was a known military informant who willingly assisted the junta in apprehending anti-coup activists.
“Many people had to go into hiding because of him. He also helped the military get more funds [by collecting payments for the electricity bills] and he threatened the people with power cuts,” the spokesperson told Myanmar Now.
“We looked into his history to make sure we got the right person and then we decided to kill him,” he added.
A Thinpyo local also accused the late administrator of threatening villagers and collaborating with the military.
“He was a really bad person. He used to accuse the people he didn’t like of being members of the PDF [People’s Defence Force] and get the military torture and arrest them,” he said, adding, “He was hated by the whole village.”
Neither Thein Htay’s family members nor close contacts provided comment regarding his murder.
Guerrilla forces based in Kyaukse have issued warnings to the junta’s local administrators to resign from their posts or risk being targeted in violence.
The military council, which has declared these anti-coup resistance forces terrorist organisations, has been unable to provide protection to their administrators from the threats.
Several such administrators have left their posts following warnings to do so by resistance groups, including those in Yangon’s Thongwa and Kayan townships, Magway’s Yesagyo, and Chaung-U and Htigyaing in Sagaing Region.
More than 40 administrators quit their jobs in Bago Region’s Yedashe Township last month after the local PDF posted a warning letter on Facebook and a photo of three bullets, along with an October 31 deadline for the resignations.
The junta has not released a statement regarding the mass resignations.
![Resistance fighters holding heavy weapons ammunition in central Myanmar. (Photo: Freedom Revolution Force [FRF])](https://myanmar-now.org/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2024/04/438869056_443267851680128_1706386881626943924_n-390x220.jpeg)
