Two armed men robbed a currency exchange shop called MS Group on Shan Kone Road in Sanchaung Township on the afternoon of December 3.
According to staff, the two men entered the shop at 12pm and asked to change MMK200,000 to US dollars. They then asked for the exchange rate and left, saying they did not have the amount of money they needed.
They two men returned to the shop at 1:30pm armed with a slingshot and an ‘air gun’, according to Yangon police. At the time, one male staff member and one female staff member were in the shop. The men instructed the male staff member to lie on the ground while they packed US dollars and Myanmar kyats into a backpack. They fired the air gun into the air twice.
According to an officer from the Sanchaung police station, they robbery was caught on CCTV, and the men took MMK15 million and US$15,000.
The robbers also took a driver’s license, a travel bag, mobile phone top-up cards worth MMK400,000 and four mobile phones.
They fired several more shots into the air as they ran from the store to frighten a crowd that had begun to follow them. They reportedly boarded a bus and got away.
A woman who lives in an apartment above the money changer told 7Day Daily: “They were sitting at a beer station and watching the shop since 11am. They came to sit at a staircase beside the money changer at 12pm. Then, I heard two noises, but I’m not sure if it was a gunshot or what was it. It sounded like something dropped from the building, so I went out to look, and I saw them leaving with backpacks.”
One of them the suspects was described as having fair complexion, big eyes and a short stature, and the other one is reportedly thin, has a dark complexion and has a damaged right foot.
The Sanchaung police station is now investigating the case and have released CCTV images of the suspects.
Anyone who recognizes the suspects is encouraged to call the Yangon Region police force at 199 or 012323199.
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