Arya News - Regarding the arrests, Sayadaw U Tay Za Thiri, the head of the Oktwin Township Thar/Stun group, said that six men and one woman, including the driver, have been arrested.
YANGON – According to the Oktwin Township Police Department, a group of people who had been renting houses in Oktwin Township, Taungoo District, Bago Region, and traveling around in vehicles for months were arrested and taken into custody by relevant authorities on August 31.
The incident occurred in Nyaung Pagoda Township, Oktwin, after the authorities received reports that people were hanging vinyl signs on vehicles to receive donations. Under the instructions of the Chief/Central Service Ganthawasaka Pandita Sayadaw Bhaddanta Obatha (Alin Yadana Sayadaw), the Township Religious Affairs Committee went to investigate.
According to the investigation, the group of charity workers had previously been caught fraudulently accepting donations in Pauktaw Village and was forced to sign a pledge, surrender the green vinyls, and leave the township immediately. Instead of leaving the township, the group rented a house in Htangone Village, School Group 80, for 1.5 million kyats per month, where members were phoning in changes to donation documents, printing them out, and fraudulently accepting donations using new vinyls.
Regarding the arrests, Sayadaw U Tay Za Thiri, the head of the Oktwin Township Thar/Stun group, said that six men and one woman, including the driver, have been arrested. One male leader remains in the rented house, and it is not yet known whether the remaining leaders have been arrested. Currently, seven people are in custody at the Nyaung Pagoda Police Station.
The seven people initially arrested were detained at the Nyaung Pagoda Police Station in cooperation with the Oktwin Township Police Chief and the station’s personnel. It is understood that the group’s leader is still living in the rented house in Htangone Village, and further action will be taken to arrest him.
At a time when the public is struggling to make ends meet, the Oktwin Township Thar/Thanan Committee said it will investigate and take action against fraudulent donations made in the name of religion, donations that do not comply with regulations, and donations accepted without authorization. It will also act against donations received by monks and nuns who are not ordained, drug abuse, and the use of individuals as agents to distribute donations.