Taungup Twsp man arrested by military faces illicit gambling charges

By DMG 23 Mar 2022

DMG Newsroom
23 March 2022, Taungup

A man from Pauk Inn village in Arakan State’s Taungup Township who was arrested earlier this month by the Myanmar military has been charged under two sections of the Gambling Law, according to local police.

U Maung Hla Shwe, 47, was arrested on March 10 and charged under Sections 18(a) and 19(a) of the Gambling Law, said an official from the Taungup Myoma police station.

“A police officer from the Taungup Myoma police station filed a lawsuit against him. He was held on remand at the Taungup Myoma police station,” the police official told DMG.

Daw Aye Aye Pyone, the wife of U Maung Hla Shwe, told DMG that the case against her husband appeared to relate to the alleged sale of a three-digit lottery ticket.

Daw Aye Aye Pyone said U Maung Hla Shwe will be arraigned at the Taungup Township Court on March 29. She added that she was concerned about his health, and had not been allowed to meet with him since his arrest.

“He is in poor health and health is important to him. He is too old and I am worried about his heart condition,” she added.

A Myanmar military contingent was stationed in Pauk Inn village on the day of U Maung Hla Shwe’s arrest, with residents not allowed to leave the village that evening.

An ordination ceremony was held in the village on March 10, and U Maung Hla Shwe was arrested by military personnel on his way home from the ceremony, according to his younger brother Ko Aung Thar Moe.