A group of thieves have raided a cemetery in central China's Henan Province, stealing urns to extort ransoms from relatives of the deceased, according to Henan Television Station last week.
Liu, one of the ransom victims, said that a cemetery in Xinyang called her last Thursday, saying husband’s tomb had been robbed, and his urn was missing.
After she went there, she saw that her husbands’ tomb was a mess, and a cell phone number was left, asking her to pay money to get the ashes back.
Another nearby tomb was also burglarized. Cemetery management personnel said that based on the burglars’ skills, they are quite experienced in doing such crimes.
Liu informed the police that she had been in contact with members of the gang, who might be in Zhenjiang, Jiangsu Province, judging from the number used. They said that as long as she transfers money to them, they will return the urns to them, amounts in the tens of thousands of yuan.
One victim, surnamed Fang, transferred 20,000 yuan ($3,136) to the burglars like she was told. However, she was told nothing about the whereabouts of the urns. Instead, the gang asked for even more money from her.
Police say that they burglars could be organized gangs who roam across the country, and they will break into a tomb whenever they find one that’s available. So far, Henan police have launched investigations and started a nationwide search for the gangs, working with authorities from multiple locations in China.
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