By Asah:
According to sources, on the night of May 5th , members of the Nai Chan Dein group, a Mon splinter faction, broke into the homes of residents in two neighboring Yephyu Township, Tenasserim Division villages, and kidnapped at total of 22 individuals at gunpoint.
15 victims were taken from their homes in Yebu village, while 4 men and 3 women were kidnapped from the neighboring village of Kyout Ta Lin, a resident of the latter community informed IMNA yesterday.
A source in the area, who asked that his identity remain anonymous, informed IMNA that the Nai Chan Dein group has demanded a ransom of 2 million kyat for each of its 22 hostages; reportedly, victims were pre-selected based on their relationship to wealthier families within the area.
IMNA’s source in Kyout Ta Lin claimed that the group is notorious for plaguing the region with demands for funds, but that this latest kidnapping represents a violent escalation of the group’s tactics.
“The Nai Chan Dein group has done [acts similar to this] many times, like demanding money from each household [extortion demands]. But now they have kidnapped the residents and asked 2 million kyat for each of them. This causes trouble for the residents who can’t afford to give them money,” he explained.
He added that the 22 victims are still being held by their captors, and those whose families cannot afford the required sums have reportedly asked that their ransom prices be reduced.
A Yephyu Towship village headman estimated to IMNA that the Nai Chan Dein faction has been asking for arm-fees from villages throughout the township for the last several months
A source from Ye Township’s Zin Ku village, a community of 400 households mostly comprised of farmers and families of migrant workers, reiterated the headman’s claims, and indicated that the group has begun to specifically target wealthy households and communities for its extortion commands.
“The Nai Chan Dein group was coming and asking for money in our village frequently, but they aren’t asking for as much as before. Now a house which is wealthy has to give them 100,000 kayt, but [they only ask] 20,000 for a farmer’s house.”
This resident also added that the group had not set a deadline for the submission of it latest round of extortion demands, although some families had already paid the fees.
The Nai Chan Dein splinter group operates in northern Yephyu Township, and in Mon State’s Southern Ye Township. The group’s last reported kidnapping occurred in January 2009, when the faction accosted 40 Ye villagers journeying from their homes to their rubber plantations, and held nearly 30 of the victims for ransom for a week’s time. At the time of IMNA’s coverage of the incident, Nai Chan Dein currently only commanded between 20 and 30 soldiers.
