Missing Buddha Tooth Roils Rangoon

Aug 16, 2005 (DVB) – The Buddha tooth replica or clone
which was stolen from Swedawmyat Pagoda in Rangoon Mayanggone Township
on 14 August was back on display, according to a report by AFP.

The tooth replica was stolen along with a small solid gold salver that
it rested on during a daring raid amid tight security. The thief kept the
plate but threw away the relic.

The report added that exactly when the replica tooth was recovered remains
unclear. In order to confirm the report DVB contacted No.1, Mayanggone
Police Station, but the officers refused to make any comment. On the day
of the robbery, a police officer on duty said that the relic, valued around
50 million kyat, and the gold salver were stolen. Therefore, it is not
clear whether the recovered relic is the original one or not.

Political circles in Rangoon insisted what had happened was just a ploy
or a trick by the authorities in an attempt to ward off evil.

story from Democratic
Voice
of Burma

This Buddha Tooth story gets weirder. It looks like
they were so spooked by the bad karma of losing the tooth that they sikked
the national canine corps on the case!

August
16, Shan Herald Agency for News

Sniffer dogs flown to Rangoon Trained sniffer dogs assigned to cross-border
towns have been reassigned to Burma’s two main cities Rangoon and Mandalay
since yesterday, reports a source close to the Army.

The dogs were administered anaesthetic before embarkation from Tachilek.
"We were only told there weren’t enough dogs to go round," an
officer was
quoted as saying. "No reason was given."

The source said there were speculations that the generals wanted to
keep
the international airports at the two cities under close surveillance.

"Most likely the consequence of the May 7 bombings (that killed
more than
70 and injured hundreds," he commented. "But some have
pointed out the
suddenness of the order from Rangoon, which might mean that there is
a
crisis situation that calls for urgent and swift action."

from the Shan Herald Agency for News

The Dowbrigade is hearing from his sources
in Burma that this is the biggest deal since the CIA tried to overthrow the
Generals in the 80’s. It’s hard for an American to imagine a national
lockdown on the scale of 9/11 (pro-rated) for a missing tooth. We guess
the only cultural point of comparison we have is to image someone had
stolen George Washington’s wooden choppers, and it ain’t really the
same…