Sai Pawnli — The Ta’ang National Party (TNP) has accused the Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS) of arresting a TNP member in southern Shan State’s Murng Kung Township last week.

The TNP alleged that RCSS troops took one of their members, 30-year-old clerk Sai Hla Sein, into custody in Pawng Mawng village on September 15, and called for his immediate release.

“He is helping our party. He was arrested,” Mai Nom Harn, chairperson of the TNP in Murng Kung, told SHAN. “He has still not returned to his home. His parents and family members are worried about his safety. We want to ask the RCSS why they arrested our party member and where they are detaining him.”

RCSS spokesperson Lt-Col Oum Khur said that he had no information about whether Sai Hla Sein had been arrested, but that that he did not fit the profile of people who the RCSS would typically detain.

“We haven’t received any field reports about this. We do not arrest regular civilians,” he told SHAN. “We arrest drug traffickers or drug addicts or people who are connected with narcotics. If the person is not linked to these matters, he might be a deserter. If not, we wouldn’t arrest anybody.”

The spokesperson added that he would follow up with the RCSS’s field officer in the area.

The TNP’s headquarters are in Namhsan town in northern Shan State. The party is running for election in November in Kyaukme and Namhsan townships in northern Shan State and Murng Kung township in southern Shan State.