Friday, 04 June 2010 22:51 Nyein Thu
Rangoon (Mizzima) - Four people have been arrested on suspicion of masterminding the armed robbery near Kunchankone Township in which three people were killed and 13 injured, the Chief of Police Brig. Gen. Khin Yi said on Friday.
The May 16 daring robbery near Rangoon was highlighted by the media in exile because some of the robber's were in Burmese Army uniforms.
The four were arrested over the last two weeks. They included the robber, who fired and hurled grenades among villagers, said the police chief at a press conference in the former capital Rangoon.
“They wore army uniforms because they felt pretending to be soldiers would confuse the police and make it difficult to trace them”, he added.
The police chief displayed two AK 47 rifles and bullets that were seized.
Five robbers disguised as soldiers entered a house in Dayellu Village, 14 miles from Kunchankone. They tied up two domestic helps and demanded money from the owner. One of the helps escaped and shouted for help.
When the villagers assembled to thwart the robbery, the robbers started firing indiscriminately and hurled grenades at them. Two people died on the spot and 13 people were injured. Later, one of the 13 succumbed to his injuries.
This is the second such armed crime in Rangoon, where people were shot dead in the last two years. On March 4, 2008 armed men barged into a home near Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi’s home on University Avenue in Rangoon and shot dead five people.
The five were shot in the head by unidentified people inside the home of Thu Zaw, the owner of the Fuji House coffee shop at night. The shooting resembled an execution.
When a reporter asked at the Press conference today, whether the killings had been unraveled, the police chief said the crime was still being investigated.
Armed robberies and shootouts are rare in Rangoon and Burma as a whole, as the junta has severely restricted ownership of firearms.
Saturday, June 5, 2010
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