Maungdaw, Arakan State:  Fishing boat owners in Mayrullah (Myinn Hlut) and Shilkhali villages of Nasska area No. 8 in Maungdaw Township were forced to gift 13 heads of cattle during the transfer of a Nasaka officers, according to a local trader in Merullah village.

 The Nasaka officer Captain Kyaw Kyaw was transferred to another Nasaka area within the Maungdaw Township zone, so he asked the local fishing boat owners on June 5 to provide him 13 cows as a gift. He also told the boat owners that he would introduce the new incumbent to the post to the fishing boat owners.

 The Nasaka officer has been infamous for his cruel activities against the Rohingya community. Villagers are happy that the Nasaka officer is being transferred, but they are also worried about the kind of man the new officer will turn out to be.

 He will be transferred from Merullah Nasaka camp to another camp today. Fishing boat owners were not willing to part with the cattle but were forced to. During his tenure, he collected a lot of money from the villagers, said a youth from the village.

 A schoolteacher in the locality said, “When a good officer is transferred to another place, the assistant servicemen provide gifts to the officer willingly. But, we have never seen such a gift being taken by force.”

 Now boat owners have had to buy one cow at the rate of kyat 130,000 to 150,000 for the Nasaka officer. So, villagers are being forced to pay kyat 1,950,000 for the cattle. This is one of the methods to extort money indirectly from Rohingya villagers, said a village elder requesting anonymity.