38 Burmese people, including alleged spies sent by the Burmese junta, were arrested at a Burmese Buddhist Dharma centre in Thailand’s Mae Sot municipality.

The Thai authorities raided the Thabarwa Buddhist Dharma centre, a three story building in Mae Sot’s Mae Pa District on 29 August. There, they found 38 Burmese nationals, none of whom had any documents permitting them to be in Thailand, according to the Thai authorities who were cited in the Thai language media outlet Matichon.

It reported that some of the monks and nuns were allegedly spies sent by the Burmese army to gather intelligence about Burmese political activists in Mae Sot and Bangkok.

But according to BBC Burmese, the Buddhist Dharma centre denied that any of the arrested people were spies.

Matichon said that the arrested Burmese nationals are being detained and questioned and will then be prosecuted.

The Thabarwa Buddhist Dharma centre was apparently one of two centers opened near Mae Sot at the beginning of this year by an allegedly pro-junta Burmese Buddhist abbot.