Gold shop looted in Northern Burma

by Myo Gyi
Thursday, 09 July 2009 13:20

Ruili (Mizzima) –Two armed men looted a famous gold shop near No. 1 Central Market in Bamo town of Kachin State in Northern Burma on July 6 and fled with gold ornaments and jewellery worth Kyat 6 million (approximately USD 6,000), local residents said.

Two motorcycle borne gunmen arrived at the ‘San Shwe Myint’ gold shop at about 8:30 a.m. One of them entered the shop, held the staff members at gunpoint and looted about 12 ticals (1 tical = 16 gms) of gold ornaments and jewellery. They fled on their motorcycle after firing two shots in the air in an apparent bid to scare away people.

“The girl [shop owner’s daughter] was opening the shop, when an armed man entered, pretending to be a customer. His accomplice waited outside on the motorcycle with the engine running. After looting the gold and jewellery, they fled on the motorcycle,” a woman living in the town and close to the family of the gold shop owner told Mizzima.

Another gold shop owner near ‘San Shwe Myint’ said, “At about 8:30 in the morning, on full moon day, I didn’t open my shop. The two armed men fired two shots in the air. It sounded like a bicycle tyre bursting. I don’t know whether the guns were genuine or fake. The two robbers are still at large”.

According to sources close to the shop owner’s daughter, two salesgirls were inside the shop, when the armed robber entered. It is learnt that they looted 12 ticals of gold and jewellery worth about Kyat 6 million.

No. 1 Central Market in Bamo is a busy and crowded area and the gold shops do business right in front.

In 2007, two sisters were stabbed to death and their store in Central Ward near the same market was robbed and looted.

Special agents sent from Naypyitaw came and cracked the case last year and the killer was nabbed.