Myanmar rock legend’s son accused of aiding bombers

Win Htut Thawdar. Photo: Ito / Facebook
Win Htut Thawdar. Photo: Ito / Facebook

The son of one of Myanmar’s most legendary musicians was arrested earlier this month in connection with recent bombings, the junta announced yesterday.

Weeks after Win Htut Thawdar, whose father is hard rock icon Zaw Win Htut, was arrested at his Yangon home, the junta accused him of driving four people to Shan State to be trained by insurgent bombmakers there, according to military government spokesman Zaw Min Tun.

Win Htut Thawdar, who is in his 30s and performs as Ito, was arrested along with five others on Sept. 8 in Yangon’s Mayangone Township.

The junta said that several days earlier, on Sept. 5, soldiers found four bombs on remote timers in a car in South Okkalapa Township.

That led to slew of arrests at his home in Mayangone Township where ammunition and additional bombmaking paraphernalia were allegedly found.

The military has accused Win Htut Thawdar and the others of plotting bombings on behalf of the All Burma Students’ Democratic Front. His 57-year-old father founded and fronted the band Emperor.

The military said it was looking for over a dozen more suspects.

In recent months since the Feb. 1 coup d’etat, Yangon and other locales have been hit by frequent bomb attacks, though most are minor and have not caused extensive damage or casualties.

While there’s skepticism of the junta’s version of events reported in media it controls, there has been no word from the accused, including Win Htut Thawdar, who have not been allowed to comment.

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The singer’s sister Win Htut Thara expressed her concern after his arrest.

“We are more likely to be less resilient as we become older. There was so much irritation that I felt it couldn’t get any worse inside seven years, but it has. I hope everything is fine and that you stay safe,” she wrote Sept. 9 on social media.

As of Sunday, the military has killed more than 1,100 people and detained nearly 8,500, according to observers.

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