An armed gang of kidnappers has demanded 20 million Kyat from a tribal Arakanese Khami family in Buthidaung Township after abducting the head of the family at gunpoint, said a relative of the victim.

"The armed kidnappers took our uncle from Thapyu Gyi Village on 6 March, 2010, along with two other villagers. Now they are asking for 20 million Kyats from my uncle's family as ransom," he said.

The 51-year-old U Tha Zan, a wealthy man in the village of Thapyu Kyi in Kha Mong Chaung Village Tract in northern Buthidaung Township, was kidnapped from his village while he was home with his family on the night of 6 March, 2010.

The village is located along the Burma - Bangladesh border and most of the families in the village are ethnic Khami.

He said, " Of the other two villagers - one is  a village council member and another  U Tha Zan's relative - were released a few days after the kidnapping, but the kidnappers asked for 20 million Kyat for U Tha Zan as ransom."

The kidnappers are from an Arakanese guerrilla group living in hideouts in Bangladesh territory near the Burmese border, he said.

A monk from the border area confirmed the incident, saying, "A group of U Tha Zan's family came to the Bangladesh border to inquire about the whereabouts of U Tha Zan. They are likely to give some amount of ransom to the kidnappers for the release of U Tha Zan."

According to a family source, the family of U Tha Zan has not reported the kidnapping to local Burmese Army officials in the area out of fear that the kidnappers would kill him in retaliation. Because of this, the family is also now worried about punishment from army officials for failing to report the crime to the concerned authorities.

It was also learnt that such kidnappings happen occasionally in the area, but the families typically pay the ransom and the incidents are resolved quietly. This time the requested ransom is far higher than the family is able to pay, so news of the kidnapping is spreading among the Arakanese community in Bangladesh.