Increasing robbery cases in Rangoon

Increasing robbery cases in Rangoon
Two cases of robbery took place within the past three days along busy Shwegondine Street in Rangoon's Bahan Township, near the office of Burma's main political opposition party – National League for Democracy...

Chiang Mai - Two cases of robbery took place within the past three days along busy Shwegondine Street in Rangoon's Bahan Township, near the office of Burma's main political opposition party – National League for Democracy.

An unidentified man on early Wednesday morning at around 3:00 a.m. (local time) broke into the house of the owner of the Koun Mar Yee store on Shwegondine Street and demanded the landlady hand over her jewelry, according to neighbors.

Neighbors said the robber jumped down from the balcony of the house, which is above the Koun Mar Yee store, when other household members woke up.

While the Koun Mar Yee store owner could not be reached at the time of this story's filing, neighbors said the robber made off with a gold bracelet and about 300,000 kyat (US$ 238) from the landlady.

The Bahan Township police station, however, said no such case had been filed at the station.

Despite the presence of tight security on Shwegondine Street to keep watch over the activities of the opposition party, another robbery took place on Monday within a hundred yards of where the robbery occurred on Wednesday.

On Monday, a group of robbers broke into and looted a flat on the 13th storey of Yuzana Tower, police sources said.

"We have registered the robbery case at the police station. The robbery took place at a flat in Yuzana Tower. So far the robbers are still at large," an official at the Bahan Township police station told Mizzima.

But the officer decline to explain further details of the robbery, citing that he is not authorized to speak to the press.

Yuzana Tower neighbors said the robbers tied-up the residents, taped their mouths and took both jewels and money.

A resident on the ninth floor of the condominium told Mizzima that the flat on the 13th floor has iron netting for security, meaning it could not have been easily robbed.

"It could only be by someone that is familiar with the residents," said the woman.

Yuzana Tower is used for both residential and business purposes, with several companies maintaining offices on the ground floor of the structure and departmental stores occupying higher levels.