A 47-year-old man who allegedly killed two police officers as they were trying to arrest him at a Yangon guesthouse last week had been freed from prison twice under presidential amnesties, according to reports.
Since the transition to semi-civilian government in 2012, President Thein Sein has presided over a number of amnesties, releasing hundreds of political prisoners alongside thousands of criminal offenders.
Tin Myint, from Bago Region, was serving a life sentence for killing a police officer who tried to nab him for robbery and murder when he was released in 2008.
He was imprisoned again after carrying out robberies in Mingalar Taung Nyunt, Tamwe and Thingangyun Townships but set free under another amnesty in 2014, The Voice reported,
Five months later, he was wanted after a knife attack. Local police chief Aung Naing and Sergeant Thura Lwin had tracked him down to a guesthouse in Thanlyin Township on September 2 when a fight broke out, and they were both stabbed to death.
Tin Myint is now in police custody.
Two murder cases involving police officers have been reported in Yangon since July, when an investigator was killed outside a teashop in Insein Township.
Photo / Flickr / Creative Commons / Darla Hueske
