Four young men were arrested for robbing the Taint Shein Gold Shop in Pabedan Township, Yangon Region.

The robbery took place on March 23 at 8:45 AM at the gold shop located on Maha Bandoola Road, between 29th and 30th Streets. At the time, the shop owner’s daughter and seven female employees were inside. Four masked men entered, and one of them brandished a handgun, threatening the staff. They then stole around various gold items weighing about 20 ticals, worth approximately 120 million kyats, from the glass counter before escaping.

Authorities launched an investigation, and based on witness reports, they discovered that the robbers fled in a white Toyota Corolla taxi with license plate YGN-42 AA-1938 towards Bogyoke Aung San Road. The taxi was later found at 11:00 AM in Lanmadaw Township, near the intersection of Wadan Street and Anawrahta Road. The driver, Sithu Kyaw (43 years old), was detained for questioning.

During interrogation, Sithu Kyaw admitted that he had transported the robbers to the Kyauktada Township, dropping them off at the intersection of Strand Road and Bo Aung Kyaw Road for 4,000 kyats. Following this lead, authorities continued their search and, by 2:15 PM, they tracked the suspects to Room 301 of Casa Myanmar Hotel in Botataung Township.

The four arrested suspects were Lin Thant Aung (18 years old) from Kyaikhto Township, Mon State, Thet Htoo Zinn (20 years old) from Thaton Township, Mon State, Kaung Khant Thu Ya (aka Wathone, 19 years old) from Shwepyithar Township, Yangon, and Min Khant Ko (aka Pho Kar, 19 years old) from Daik-U Township, Bago Region. 

Authorities seized the following evidence from their hotel room: one black plastic pistol, three metal-cutting tools, 51 gold bracelets and 37 gold rings. 

Further investigation revealed that the four suspects had checked into Casa Myanmar Hotel on March 20. Due to financial difficulties, they had surveyed gold shops on Maha Bandoola Road as potential targets. They later chose Taint Shein Gold Shop for the robbery. The black plastic pistol used in the crime was purchased from a store near Sule Pagoda.

Lin Thant Aung was identified as the leader of the group and the one who used the gun to intimidate the shop staff. The entire group was arrested within six hours of the robbery, along with the stolen gold. Authorities are continuing their investigation to ensure legal action is taken against them.