In a daring robbery two motorcycle borne men looted 3 million Kyats and a mobile phone from a woman, who withdrew money from a bank and was on her way back home in Myitkyina the capital of Kachin State, northern Burma.
A local resident said the incident took place on May 21 around 3 p.m. in front of No.1 State High School and Andawshin Buddhist Monastery on the main road in the central part of the city.
“They snatched her bag, which had 3 million Kyats (US$3,109) and her cell phone,” said the local.
The woman was also on a motorbike. She was injured on her foot after falling from the motorcycle, when she was pushed by the two robbers.
The Myitkyina resident said, this is not the first time such an incident has taken place in Myitkyina and around Kachin State because more and more people, especially from among the youth are into drugs.
Myitkyina, Kachin State. Photo: Kachin News Group.
“Drug addiction among the youth is on the rise in Kachin State leading to such crimes for easy money,” said the resident.
The police are unable to do much about such crimes, so victims do not go to the police station to avoid spending more money, the resident told Kachin News Group.
If the victims want the police to pursue the case he or she has to offer a large sum of money to them and spend a lot of time. So most prefer not to complain and put up with the loss already sustained.
Policemen from the highest to the lowest rank take bribes from drug traffickers. So, more and more people are joining the drug trade.
Local people said most Kachin youths are getting addicted to drugs along with other ethnics in Kachin State.
Crimes continue in Kachin State but there is no action by the military government resulting in the situation worsening. It has become a lawless country, they added.
There have been a lot of similar robberies in Myitkyina. In 2007 December, a mother and her son from Du Kahtawng quarter were robbed by three men on a motorcycle in broad daylight between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. after they withdrew 2 million Kyats from Kanbawza (KBZ) bank.
