The regime’s armed forces arrested Sai Wunna, the former National League for Democracy (NLD) MP for Ywar Ngan Township, and his family in a early dawn raid on their home in southern Shan State.

A local man close to the NLD lawmaker, who requested anonymity, told SHAN that many soldiers and police arrived at 4am on Monday 7 March to arrest him and his family, while his elderly mother stayed behind in the house.

After the military coup a little over a year ago, Sai Wunna escaped arrest by going into hiding.

“I believe informants reported Sai Wunna’s return to the police. He’d only come to his house for a few days to take care of his sick mother,” said the man, not understanding why Sai Wunna and his family were taken into custody.

A few days earlier, soldiers had arrested youths in Ywar Ngan town and no one has been allowed to visit them in prison, not even their families.

Another male source, who requested anonymity and fled his home to avoid arrest, told SHAN that the four youths had been arrested once before for peacefully protesting against the military coup and were released after signing an agreement to stop their political activities.”They didn’t engage in political activities, so I don’t know why the soldiers arrested them,” he said.

There are no military battalions stationed in Ywar Ngan, but that doesn’t stop Burma Army soldiers from coming to the town and firing their weapons indiscriminately. Local informants play an important role as they allow the regime to know the whereabouts of everyone in the township and those who return.