A junta-appointed member of the Hlaing Tharyar Township Administrative Council in Yangon was shot dead on Tuesday morning, in the latest fatal attack on a local regime official.
Sai Lin Zaw, who was a candidate for the pro-military People’s Pioneer Party (PPP) in last year’s election, was riding in his Toyota Land Cruiser in Hlaing Tharyar’s ward 11 when he was shot at around 8am, according to a source in the township.
“I didn’t see the shooting, but people around here said the gunman shot at him from a motorcycle. When I went there, I only saw his vehicle. His body wasn’t inside,” the source told Myanmar Now.
Hlaing Tharyar, which is home to tens of thousands of domestic migrant workers, has been tense since it was placed under martial law in March following deadly crackdowns on anti-coup protests. Sai Lin Zaw’s house in the township was bombed on May 5, but no casualties were reported at the time.
Accused of being a military informant, he was also allegedly a local leader of “Pyu Saw Htee,” a group said to have been formed in the wake of the February 1 coup to counter the anti-junta resistance movement.
Myanmar Now has been unable to independently verify this information.
Sai Lin Zaw competed in last year’s election for a seat in the Yangon regional parliament representing the eastern Hlaing Tharyar Township constituency, but lost to a National League for Democracy (NLD) candidate.
After the military deposed the NLD-led civilian government, the coup regime appointed 50-year-old Sai Lin Zaw as a member of the Hlaing Tharyar Township Administrative Council.
Before becoming a PPP candidate, Sai Lin Zaw was a member of the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP). He served as the ward administrator of Hlaing Tharyar’s ward 11 under the previous USDP government.
He allegedly participated in nationalist, pro-military protests under the NLD government and was accused of paying people in Hlaing Tharyar to join those rallies.
He was also accused of being an active member of Ma Ba Tha, the infamous anti-Muslim “patriotic association” that was disbanded in 2017.
Sai Lin Zaw is the latest pro-military figure to be targeted on suspicion of acting as an informant for regime forces that have killed more than 840 civilians over the past four months.
The exact number of such attacks remains unknown, but recent incidents suggest that opponents of the junta are using increasingly violent tactics to fight back against the regime.
Myo Lwin, the administrator of ward 3 in Yangon’s Lanmadaw Township, was shot and killed near his house on 8th Street on May 18, soon after an explosion was reported at his office.
Last Tuesday, a parcel bomb went off in Yangon at the wedding of a far-right nationalist, killing his bride and two guests.
Two days later, a series of bombings was reported in Yangon’s Thaketa Township, where a local ward administrator was also shot dead the same day.
Last Thursday also saw the death of a USDP township chair who was killed in a drive-by shooting in Mon State.
Kyaw Zeya, the vice chair of the PPP, said Sai Lin Zaw’s murder showed the regime’s weakness in providing security for those serving in its administration.
“There must be responsibility and accountability after they appoint people, whether at the township or ward or village level,” said the retired lieutenant colonel.
“I see that the State Administrative Council is very weak in taking responsibilities for those it appointed. Not satisfying at all,” he added, referring to the junta by its official name.
