Maungdaw, Arakan State: Three villagers from Sarfoddin Bill Village of Maungdaw Township were arrested by Burma’s border security force (Nasaka) of Nasaka area No. 6 on July 19, on allegations that they were linked with exiled rebellion groups, said a schoolteacher from the locality.
On that day, a group of Nasaka led by a police officer of Nasaka from area No. 6, went to the village and arrested Shobbir Ahmed (65), son of Abul Khair along with his younger brother Mono Meah (55) and Mohamed Alam (32), a member of the Village Peace and Development Council (VPDC), on accusations that they were linked with the exiled rebellion group, Rohingya Solidarity Organization (RSO) led by Maulana Saiful Islam.
 
“At present, Maulana Saiful Islam has no link with the RSO, but he was the executive member of RSO earlier. He went to Saudi Arabia and lived there for many years and recently he came to Bangladesh to see his family,” said a relative of Maulana Saiful Islam.
 
The arrestees are the relatives of Maulana Saiful Islam, so the authority will demand money from them after falsely accusing them, said a local elder on condition of anonymity.
 
This is the first time that the concerned authorities have alleged that the villagers are involved with a rebellion group in exile after many years. The activities of RSO were dormant for a long time, but the authorities concerned forced the villages to admit they had links with the exiled group. In fact, the arrestees have no link with the exiled group, said another relative.
 
Earlier, the concerned authorities accused villagers of having mobile phones, receiving money from their relatives who have been living abroad for only extracting money from the villagers. They also seized shrimp projects from the villagers and targeted the villagers of Sarfoddin village as most of them are well to do families.
 
However, the arrestees were released on July 22, after paying Kyat 1.2 million to the Nasaka officer, according to a close relative of the victims.