However, local villagers from these villages said they didn’t hear any sounds of boats on the river. They also said that a Maungdaw Township administration officer named U Kyi San gave BGP officers orders to fire shots into the air on the pretext of hearing the sound of boats in the Naf river. Some local villagers claim the BGP officers were drunk when they fired their weapons.

According to a human rights watchdog named Halim, U Kyi San has been harassing the Rohingya community in order to obtain money and compel them to participate in Burma’s census and identify themselves as “Begali.” However, the community has refused to participate in the census because they weren’t able to identify themselves as “Rohingya.”