Maungdaw, Arakan State: A fertilizer trader in Maungdaw Township was arrested on August 17 night, for refusing to sell fertilizer to a village Peace and Development Council (VPDC) Chairman on credit, said a close relative of the trader on condition of anonymity.  

The victim was identified as Nurul Amin (23), son of Abul Hussain, from Maung Nama village of Maungdaw Township.

Three days before the arrest, Zubair the current VPDC Chairman of Maung Nama village tract and the younger brother of the late Chairman Murtaza, who was killed by unknown miscreants, went to the shop of Nurul Amin and asked him to give some bags of fertilizer for his personal use on credit, the relative added.  

The trader did not give the fertilizer for he thought the Chairman will never pay. The village Chairman was enraged and was determined to take revenge. The Chairman is known to be a collaborator of the Nasaka headquarters of Kawa Bill (Kyikanpyin). He uses his power whenever he wants to take revenge on any villager or extorts money from them.

The Chairman contacted Aung Mangala Nasaka camp over telephone and told them that Nurul Amin had a mobile phone and asked them to arrest him, said an aide of the village Chairman.  

Nasaka personnel went to the victim’s house and said that they had found a mobile phone in his room. The victim wanted to know how they got it because he did not own a mobile phone. It was planted, said a friend of the victim quoting a villager.

The victim was taken to the Nasaka camp and his legs were put into stocks.

However, he was released the following day after he paid Kyat 120,000 to the Naska officer, said the relative.

“For not selling fertilizer to a village Chairman on credit, the victim was fined.  How will villagers stay peacefully in their villages, if the authorities harass them?”  a village elder asked.