Bilin Township Union Solidarity and Development Party chair Myint Swe and wife were shot on the morning of May 27 and the former later died of gunshot wounds, Mon State USDP said in a statement.

The two were shot by two unidentified men on a motorbike when they visited their rambutan plantation at about 8.15 am today. Myint Swe died on the spot of gunshot wounds in the head.

His wife sustained wounds in the lower jaw and was sent to a military hospital (300-bed) in Mawlamyine.

“After about 8 am, when the couple arrived on a motorbike at the lane between Alu Village where their plantation is located and Winbyan Village, they were stopped by two young men. Then, they were shot at close range. U Myint Swe died immediately after he was hit in the head. The woman was hit in the lower jaw. She was sent to the military hospital (300-bed) in Mawlamyine. Her condition is still being checked,” said Mon State USDP secretary Win Maw Oo.

Myint Swe’s body was cremated in the afternoon at the Bilin cemetery.

He ran for the 2020 general election in the Bilin Township constituency for an upper house seat.