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SHAN STATE – A young man was abducted in Tachileik Town, Eastern Shan State on July 30 but as he can’t deliver the ransom money, he is being beaten up, said family acquaintances.
The young man who is running a general store in Tachileik was abducted in a car at around 9 p.m. on July 30 when he was on his way home after closing shop.
Then his family was contacted on July 31 evening to deliver the ransom money of five lakhs Kyats for his release.
“The abductors contacted (the family) on July 31 evening, saying that they have the young man. They are allowed to talk to him once a week. At first, they demanded the money in one or two days, threatening to kill him if the money is not delivered and that he will be released only when the amount is paid in full,” said a family acquaintance.
Although the family quickly transferred the ransom of five lakhs Kyats, the young man was not released. Instead, the family was contacted again three days later to pay a ransom of three million Kyats.
Although the family asked to reduce the amount as they are not well off financially, the abductors refused their request and started uploading videos of the abducted young man getting beaten up or tortured on Tiktok.
At present, the family is worried of danger befalling the young man while they struggle to raise the money as three million is not an easy amount for them to raise.
Since the military coup, the border towns in Shan State including Tachileik have been suffering from similar abduction cases and theft of motorcycles and cars due to the failure of administration mechanism and increasing influence of armed groups as well as crime gangs from China and Thailand.