Maungdaw, Arakan State: The military intelligence (Sarapa) is to start extorting money from residents of Maungdaw by targeting business ventures, a businessman from Maungaw alleged.

The Sarapa is a security department and it is most powerful in the border area. There, the Sarapa personnel aim to extort money from anyone who does good business in the border area, the source added.

In Maungdaw, most of the SPDC security personnel use local residents as their collaborators (Rohingya and Rakhine) to procure easy money from locals on false allegations. The collaborators collect information about those who have good business ventures and use false allegations against them like drug trafficking; having  a Bangladeshi mobile; human trafficking; money laundering and border crossing, the businessman said.

On September 2, Sarapa officer sergeant Than Win arrested Ahmed Kabir, a biscuit shop owner on the false allegation of having a Bangladeshi mobile to extort money. He was released the next day after being fleeced of 400,000 Kyats with the help of collaborators, Laila from Inndin village and Husson from Myothugyi village, said a close relative of victim.

On August 30, the Sarapa officer arrested Nur Mohamed, a motor parts store owner on the false allegation of drug trafficking (Yaba) and asked for 2 million Kyats. When Nur Mohamed refused to pay, the officer handed him over to the Maungdaw police to be produced in Maungdaw court, said a teacher from Maungdaw. “He is still in the custody of Maungdaw police station.”

On the other hand, on the same day, Lalu, a fertilizer shop owner was arrested on the false allegation of money laundering but was released the next day after paying 200,000 Kyats, the teacher said.

Again, on August 26 at about 20:00 hours, the Sarapa officer arrested Zaw Win, a medical store owner on false allegations of drug trafficking (Yaba), but was released after handing over 1.3 million Kyats, said a trader from Maungdaw.

“In Maungdaw, security personnel like Sarapa, police, Burmese border security force (Nasaka) and the army are using false allegations to get easy money from local people with the help of their collaborators. It is mostly affecting the Rohingya community into business in the town,” said an official of  the trade association.