Buthidaung, Arakan State: A ferryboat, which operates on the Mayu River on the Rathedaung-Buthidaung– Rathedaung route, was looted by an unknown gunmen on September 10, said a village shopkeeper from Rathidaung.

The ferryboat carries passengers and goods from Buthidaung to Rathedaung in the evening after transporting goods to Buthidaung in the morning. It is a daily operation.

Abdul Bashar (46) is the owner of the ferryboat and hails from Saonbite Village in Rathidaung Township.  The owner always travels in his ferryboat as a steersman.

On September 10 at about 5 pm he saw some policemen on a boat signaling him to stop, while returning from Buthidaung to Rathidaung with passengers and goods.

Abdul slowed the ferryboat and the police boat quickly caught up. When the boat neared he saw that it was not a police boat. Some people in masks pointed guns at them. Abdul tried to sped away but was unable to as the robbers hit Abdul on his arms and he lost control of the boat, sources said.

The robbers looted around 1.8 millions Kyats worth of goods took away the belongings of passengers, the sources added.

The ferryboat was carrying three Rohingya women, two Rakhine women, five Rakhine men and eight Rohingya men.

The passengers told the authorities in Rathidaung, they believed that the robbers were from the armed forces.

Abdul was admitted to the Rathidaung hospital for treatment and a case was filed in the Rathidaung police station on behalf of Abdul against the robbers, said a passenger on condition of anonymity.

This ferryboat was also robbed once before on July 2007.