CNI News

24 Dec 2022

Twenty-seven cattle from Taungpyo Letwe of Maungdaw in Rakhine State were stolen by criminals in Bangladesh on 13th December, cow owners told the CNI.

The bulls owned by nine owners were stolen by criminals from Bangladesh and taken away, Local Resident U Aye Muang, whose five cows were stolen, told the NCI.

He said, "We release the bulls for pasturing. When we collected them at about 3 pm, we could not find them. We found the foodprints. We found that criminals from Bangladesh stole our bulls. We learnt that the Bangladesh Border Guard had seized our bulls from the thieves."

An archway to Taungpyo Letwe.

Taung Pyo town is the nearest town to Bangladesh divided only by a fence.

Owners followed the footsteps of their bulls and found that the fence was breached.

Local residents have reported the case to the Border Guard Forces but they have not responded to the reports, a ward administrator told the CNI.

He said, " A total of 27 bulls were stolen on 13th December and brought to the Bangladesh side. The cows were seen at the Bangladesh Border Guard posts but they have not returned the bulls. We have reported the case to Myanmar Border Guard forces but have not received any replies."

A security guard manning the Myanmar-Bangladesh border.

It was the first time bulls from Myanmar were stolen from Myanmar by Bangladeshi criminals and owners were stolen one to five bulls. A bull fetches between MMK 800,000 to one million, added U Aye Maung.

He told the CNI, "We had to feed as much as we can, spending what we could earned. Our assets are only these bulls. So, we did not leave them when fighting took place in our areas. We want our bull backs as soon as possible."

Residents expect that the bull will be returned soon as they have raised them for farming.