A man arrested in the Myanmar hotel bombing that injured an American woman had been under surveillance for alleged involvement in the planting of a second device found at a restaurant the next afternoon, police said.
Authorities moved in on Saw Myint Lwin, 26, after matching his photograph with images captured on the Traders Hotel closed circuit television camera, according to a statement issued by Mon state police on Tuesday.
The 26-year-old rode his motorcycle through a barricade set up to apprehend him in Belin township, it said, but police caught up with him following a chase. It was not immediately clear if charges had been filed.
The explosion at Traders Hotel, one of Myanmar’s ritziest, occurred in the heart of Yangon. It was the most high-profile in a series of bombings that the government alleges is an attempt to tarnish the image of the budding democracy as it emerges from decades of oppressive military rule.
Officials said the attacks, which reportedly left two dead and several others wounded, appear to be organised, with a restaurant, two bus stops, Buddhist temples and a market all targeted. No one has claimed responsibility.
The homemade time bomb that went off just before midnight on Monday at the Traders Hotel was hidden in the bathroom in an American family’s room on the ninth floor. There was no indication they had been targeted.
