Security tightens in Rangoon

by Mizzima News

Sunday, 27 April 2008 23:40

Burmese Standard Time 16:10 - Eye witnesses said, over a dozen police are seen patrolling in downtown Rangoon, particularly near the Traders Hotel, a location where protestors in September gathered after long march. According to a student activist, security forces on Sunday morning arrested several Buddhist monks in Tharketah township bridge and load them on a Buddhist monks and took them away. However, the information could not be independently verified. Meanwhile, internet users in Rangoon complaint that the line has been particularly very slow on Sunday and is frequently disconnected. As Sunday is an office holiday, public used cyber cafes are crowded with users. Burmese Standard Time 14:45 - Chiang Mai – Security in Rangoon have been tightened, following rumors that people are planning to come together once again today to ignite anti-junta protests on the streets. An eyewitness told Mizzima that minutes earlier, two military trucks loaded with riot police came from South Okkalapa Township and headed towards downtown Rangoon. Rumors are making round in Rangoon that Buddhist monks would gather once again on Sunday at Bothathaung and Moe Kaung Pagodas. Local residents in Rangoon told Mizzima that though there are no visible mass gatherings, security personnel are remarkably increasing in Rangoon streets. According to a member of junta-backed Union Solidarity and Development Association, the increased security in Rangoon is to prevent another bomb attacks, like the two bomb blasts in down town Rangoon on April 21. Junta monitors Buddhist monasteries April 27, 2008 Burma Standard Time: 15:30 - Rangoon – Burmese military junta authorities in Rangoon have kept monks under surveillance. The movements of Buddhist monks are being monitored and certain restrictions have been imposed on their going out late at night, travelling, and receiving guests in the monasteries, sources in Rangoon said. The junta's order to strictly monitor monks and their monasteries came even before the news spread that monks were planning to gather at the famous Shwedagon pagoda on Saturday. A police officer in Rangoon, who requested anonymity, told Mizzima that they have been ordered to interrogate any monks they suspect on buses and on the streets, notwithstanding the traditional respect that Burmese people show towards monks. Eyewitnesses said, security has been tightened with more troops positioned at the front gate of Shwedagon pagoda, a famous shrine used by protesting monks in September as a gathering point. < Prev   Next >