Maungdaw, Arakan State: Sub-Inspector Thaung Htay, a traffic officer, is harassing travelers on the Maungdaw–Kyein Chaung (Bali Bazaar) motorway, according to a traveler on this road.
“The traffic officer is checking all the vehicles as per his duty, but the officer is also checking the travelers, which is not his duty.”
“The officer is searching all the goods of the travelers and harassing the travelers by asking for money which they are carrying from Kyein Chaung.”
The travelers or businessmen who are plying this road bring goods from Kyein Chaung to sell in Maungdaw markets where they earn a small profit from rural products, said a driver from this road.
“The officer asks for money from all the vehicles whether we have the appropriate documents or not.”
The officer recently seized four plastic bottles that contained ten gallons of gasoline from one Rohingya businessman named Abdullah, and asked for 80,000 kyat, said a businessman from Maungdaw.
“The people get only a little profit from reselling gasoline, but now the traffic officer is searching for goods like gasoline in the car which are plying Maungdaw and Kyein Chaung roads.”
The traffic officer seems to only be searching Rohingya travelers.
