Yangon, March 4:

Five persons were killed in execution-style shootings in the wealthy Yangon neighbourhood where Myanmar’s democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi is under house arrest, police said today.

A couple, their two daughters and a maid were shot inside their home yesterday afternoon, police said. “About $93,000 was taken from their home,” a police official said.

The shooting happened near the State Guesthouse, a military facility that has been the venue for recent talks between Nobel peace prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi and a liaison officer for the military government. Aung San Suu Kyi lives just a few blocks away from the house where the shooting took place, making the killing all the more unusual because the area is under constant guard. Police declined to comment on a possible motive for yesterday’s attack. “The incident is still under investigation,” the official said.