Chin Refugees Robbed Internet Game Shop in Malaysia

26 September 2011: A group o f four Chin refugee men committed robbery in an internet game shop in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia around 5am in the morning last Wednesday, the shopkeepers said.

The ‘unknown’ four thugs were reported entering the shop when there were no customers inside and threatening the two shopkeepers, who were also of Chin ethnicity from Burma, with their knives to give them all they had, according to Seihnam newsletter.

“They [robbers] shouted at us in Chin dialect and two of them strangled us with their knives while the other two were groping and emptying our pockets. They took 480 Ringgits and a mobile phone,” said one of the Chin shopkeepers.

It is claimed that the Malaysian police were immediately informed of the incident by the owner of the Internet Game Station, a Chinese businessman, to carry out an investigation to find out the four pilfers.

Mr. Lal Siam Mawi, Chairman of the Chin Disciplinary Action Committee, said that it was the first time Chin refugees have committed such a criminal act in Malaysia and that action would be seriously taken against them if caught after an investigation.

The Chinese owner said access to his shop’s CCTV records would be allowed to the Malaysian police and members of CDAC to help identify the Chin criminals under the investigation.

Reporting by Thawng Zel Thang