Police release alarming robbery statistics

 

Among the cases reported was one involving a 76-year-old woman robbed in a taxi on the way to a monastery. The robbery occurred in broad daylight in Yangon on September 24.

The thief, who was sitting next to the driver, threatened to stab the elderly woman with a knife before making off with her gold rings, necklace and purse, police said.

Carjacking cases – almost unheard of in the past – are also being reported, police said. These are often perpetrated by knife-wielding groups of men, they say, adding that SUVs are usually targeted. In one case on the morning of April 24, a group of five men surrounded a Land Cruiser threatening its two occupants with knives before gaining entry to the vehicle and stealing it.

Reports of home invasions are also on the rise. “Yesterday, three men broke into a house in Tamwe Township and tied up two maids before robbing the home. The owners returned while the robbery was taking place, but fled. They did not ask help from neighbours or notify the police in time, and the thieves escaped,” Police Lt-Colonel Myint Htwe said on October 6.

He said that despite a redoubling of efforts to keep a lid on crime police were unable to reduce the number of robberies. Myint Htwe said one cause might be that it is getting increasingly difficult for some people to survive in Yangon.

The number of reported robberies was 357 in April, 467 in May, 428 in June, 498 in July, 497 in August and 467 in September, police said.