The junta is using Russian-made software in southern Shan State to identify people who joined the anti-coup Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) and those wanted under Section 505 of the Penal Code.

The main place where the software has been deployed in southern Shan State is at the checkpoint in front of Panglong University in Loilem Township’s Panglong Town. 

There, travellers are required to show their national identification cards (NICs) and their details are then cross-checked using the Russian-made software which is called the People Surveillance Management System (PSMS), according to a traveller who witnessed the process and spoke to Shan Herald but wanted to remain anonymous.

He said to Shan Herald: “The checkpoint in front of Panglong University is pretty strict. The soldiers stop everyone and ask for their NICs, they then cross-check the info using software on their computers or tablets. They’re mainly looking for people who joined the CDM or are wanted under Section 505.”

The traveller added that the inspections at the checkpoint last between 45 minutes and an hour and that when the soldiers manning the checkpoint stopped some Chinese citizens they forced them to pay bribes of 40,000 to 50,000 MMK before letting them continue.

He said: “I saw some Chinese people right in front of me being questioned by the soldiers for quite a while. In the end, they were only let go after the soldiers demanded around 40,000 to 50,000 MMK from each of them. The soldiers also tend to inspect people from ethnic groups more thoroughly. But if they’re sure there’s nothing suspicious, they usually let them go.”

In the middle of May 2025, a young female student was travelling in southern Shan State on a bus going from Namsang Town to Taunggyi City, the Shan State capital, when the bus was stopped at a junta checkpoint in Ayetharyar Town (also call New Taunggyi) just outside Taunggyi City. She was arrested for allegedly having links to people’s defence forces (PDFs) after soldiers at the checkpoint cross-checked her details using the PSMS software. 

The junta has since filed a case against her under Section 50(J) of the Counter Terrorism Act in Ayetharyar Town, Taunggyi Township.

Similarly in early May, as she was travelling to eastern Shan State, a nurse from Kyaukme Town in northern Shan State who is a CDM participant was stopped in southern Shan State, at a junta checkpoint at Tarkaw Bridge which crosses the Than Lwin River in Mongping Township.

Her details were also checked with the PSMS system and she was arrested. She is now facing charges in Taunggyi City.