Five More People Arrested for Polling Station Fire

Five More People Arrested for Polling Station Fire
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Narinjara News
Mraybon: Five more people were arrested by authorities in Rauk Koon Village in Mray Bon Township for setting fire to a school that was serving as a polling station during the referendum on 10 May, 2008, said a human rights defender.

Mraybon: Five more people were arrested by authorities in Rauk Koon Village in Mray Bon Township for setting fire to a school that was serving as a polling station during the referendum on 10 May, 2008, said a human rights defender.

The five were identified as Ko Khin Maung Hla, Aung Than Kyaw, Ba Myint, Maung Thein Aung, and Nga Sein Lon from Rauk Koon Village .

According to a local source, residents from the village in Mray Bon Township in central Arakan State set fire to their village's government primary school on the day of the referendum, as authorities were using the school as a polling station.

The incident took place in the village of Rauk Koon located near Kyar Inn Daung Village in Mray Bon Township on 10 May, when authorities were holding the referendum on their draft constitution.

Most villagers did not want to cast votes in the referendum so the protested by setting fire to the school that day. According to reports, all the villagers were involved in the incident.

The authorities have already arrested ten people in relation to the incident, with the five most recently identified among them, along with U Saw Mra Aung.

It has been learned that since the attempt to burn the polling station, the authority has labeled the village a "green zone", meaning that it is an unsure area.