Protesters defiant as Suu Kyi arty official dies in custody

Police fire stun grenades and tear gas to break up a sit-in protest by tens of thousands of people in Mandalay; Myanmar asks India to return cops who crossed border following a coup in their country

An official from the party of deposed Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi died overnight in police custody, associates said, while security forces cracked down on demonstrators staging some of the most widespread protests against last month’s coup.

The cause of Khin Maung Lat’s death was not known, but reporters saw a photograph of his body with a bloodstained cloth around the head. Sithu Maung, a member of the dissolved parliament, said in a Facebook post that Khin Maung Lat was his campaign manager and was arrested on Saturday night in the Pabedan district of Yangon.

Police in Pabedan declined to comment. Police fired stun grenades and tear gas to break up a sit-in protest by tens of thousands of people in Mandalay, Myanmar Now media group said.

At least 70 people were arrested. Earlier, troops occupied a university in the city after firing rubber bullets at people there, it said. Two people were injured.

Police also launched tear gas and stun grenades in the direction of protesters in Yangon and in the town of Lashio in the northern Shan region, videos posted on Facebook showed.