New Delhi – Authorities in Rangoon have reportedly tightened security, with several truckloads of soldiers and police stationed at junctions and key locations throughout the city, eyewitnesses say.
"In front of City Hall there are about ten military trucks and two fire trucks loaded with riot police and soldiers," an eyewitness told Mizzima.
City Hall is located in the heart of Rangoon across from famous Sule Pagoda, and has served on several occasions as a gathering point for protestors in Burma's major demonstrations.
An eyewitness said soldiers and police, in groups of three or four, are taking up positions near Sule Pagoda.
"Several soldiers and police can be seen taking up position at Sule Pagoda as well as at traffic points," the eyewitness said.
Another eyewitness said about four army trucks have arrived in front of the National League for Democracy office, Burma's main opposition party led by detained Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, in west Shwegondine . Also, soldiers and police with red scarves, a sign that marks them as Special Forces, can be seen patrolling major streets, including the Pansodan flyover, with wooden barricades ready for deployment.
"What is interesting is that in many places police and soldiers are seen with members of Swan Arrshin and the Union Solidarity and Development Association, who are sitting by the roadside and keeping watch," the eyewitness added.
USDA and Swan Arrshin are two civil organizations formed and run by the ruling junta and are infamously known as puppets of the generals bidding.
While the reason for this almost unprecedented heightening of security remains unknown, there are several speculations among residents of Rangoon.
One of the eyewitnesses said, "It could be because of the rumor about the death of Than Shwe."
On Wednesday, a rumor ran amok in Rangoon and spilled over to the exile Burmese community that Burma's military leader Senior General Than Shwe died in a local hospital as a result of cancer.
However, an official at the junta's ministry of information denied the rumor saying Than Shwe is in good health.
Another theory focuses on the Burmese opposition, particularly students both in exile and inside. They are marking today, March 13, as Human Rights Day for Burma, in commemoration of the first student shot dead in the 1988 student-led revolution.
The junta feels the need to suppress any kind of movement or event at this critical point in time, as it counts down the days before May's referendum polling.
