An artillery battalion of the Burmese army confiscated a herd of cattle from local merchants in the name of collecting funds for the cyclone-hit Irrawaddy Delta in Kachin State in Northern Burma, local sources said.

A herd of 27 cattle were being driven through the Chinese border in Kachin State for sale on May 28, 2008. The cattle owners were stopped near the Mogaung River and the herd was seized by second warrant officer Myint Thein of the No. 372 Artillery Battalion led by Major Ye Yint Twe, sources close to the merchants said.

The cattle were owned by three cattle merchants in Namma city --- Maung Shwe, Shan Ko and Thet Oo and they were driving the herd themselves, when the incident occurred, sources said.

The current price for 27 cattle is over 10 million Kyat (over US $ 8,889), a businessman in Myitkyina told KNG today.

In the hope of getting petty cash as compensation for the cattle confiscation, the owners appealed twice to Burmese junta's Northern Command Headquarters in Myitkyina Township, the capital of Kachin State. However, the military officials reasoned that "the cattle were confiscated for the fund for cyclone victims," sources said.

According to merchants in Sarhmaw (Samaw) city on the Myitkyina-Mandalay railway division, city-based Burmese Army's No. 105 Infantry Battalion (Kha La Ya) also confiscated cattle more than twice from local merchants. But interestingly the seizure was made before the cyclone hit Irrawaddy Delta.

Local cattle merchants have to bribe officers in the Burmese Army bases and regional military authorities to sell cattle near the Chinese border in eastern Kachin State, local merchants said.

Currently, rumours are doing the rounds in Kachin State that the military authorities are embezzling the funds collected in the name of cyclone victims, the residents said.