20 January 2010: Burmese Army soldiers in Paletwa township, Chin state extorted Kyat 60,000 from women, threatening them with their guns on January 4.
Commander Than Lwin and his soldiers in Shin Let Wa, village in Paletwa based military camp LIB 234 extorted Kyat 60,000 from four women from Ramri village, Paletwa township. They were selling sesames in Shwe Lai wa village.

“When the sesame sellers arrived in Shwe Lai Wa village, soldiers fired their guns twice in the air, threatening them and asking for money,” said a member of the Peace and Development Council (BPDC) in Shin Let Wa village, sources said.

The soldiers demanded Kyat 60,000 for the women’s 11 tin of sesames and those of a man. The women had two tins of sesames each and the man had three tins...

The sesame sellers had to borrow the money from members of the BPDC in Shwe Lai Wa village in order to pay Kyat 60,000.

The present market price of sesame is Kyat 1000 per tin. The sesames are purchased by traders from Arakan state in Burma annually.