The Burmese military junta has beefed up security in Myitkyina Township, the capital of Kachin State in northern Burma with the first anniversary of the Buddhist monk-led Saffron Revolution approaching this month, said local sources.
[Train Station, Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin State, northern Burma.]
Train Station, Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin State, northern Burma.
In Myitkyina and in areas ten miles from the town there is deployment of police, soldiers and plainclothes security agents. They are checking people on suspicion on the roads after 8 p.m. local time since early this month, residents of Myitkyina told KNG.
According to Myitkyina residents, the military authorities in Myitkyina have issued a new order on all night markets in the township where it has to close before midnight since last week.
Shop owners of night markets in Shanzu North quarter near the railway station in the township have been threatened that they will be fined 50,000 Kyat (US $ 42) per table in the shop if they do not close the shop by 11:30 p.m. by policemen from No. 1 Police Station, said shop owners.
Snacks and food are mainly sold in the Shanzu North night market and customers are mainly night and sex workers in the township, said market sources.
In the current situation residents in Myitkyina have to struggle more for a living than in the past. The shop owners in Shanzu North night market are dejected with the order of authorities because they have to close the shops early without registering proper sales, said a shop owner.
Earlier, the night market used to be open for 12 hours from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. and the shop owners earned some profit, the sources added.
On the other hand, the new Northern Command commander of junta, Maj-Gen Soe Win has started to take on drug smuggling in Kachin State since July. However, the military authorities are yet to take action on drug dealers and sellers who have a nexus with them, said sources close to drug dealers in Myitkyina.
Now, the Commander Maj-Gen Soe Win has announced in Myitkyina that he will take action on activists involved in poster movements if there are fresh movements, said residents of Myitkyina.
