Police have confirmed that a Japanese journalist from the Tokyo-based APF news agency was arrested this morning after crossing into Burma on foot over the Thai border.

Toru Yamaji was detained at 9am today in Burma’s eastern border town of Myawaddy, in Karen state. The town is a major crossing point from Thailand’s Mae Sot.

The reporter is rumoured to be the former boss of Kenji Nagai, who was shot dead in Rangoon by a soldier as he documented the September 2007 monk-led uprising. It is believed that he was arrested after being seen taking photographs in Myawaddy, and remains in detention.

Belongings, including a pen camera, international mobile phone and Thai mobile phone, a passport and an APF press card, have been confiscated.

Foreign journalists and observers have been banned from entering Burma during the elections.

Correction: original story said the reporter was from Agence France-Presse. This is not the case, and AFP confirm they have no journalists on the ground in Myawaddy.