Maungdaw, Arakan State: Maungdaw Town police arbitrarily arrest and torture Rohingya people after falsely accusing them of drug trafficking. A local Rohingya leader from Maungdaw Town speaking on condition of anonymity said police only release them after extorting money.

On September 2, a youth Maung Ni, son of Lalaya, from Myoma Kayan Dan village, Maungdaw Township was arrested by police in the village.  The victim, Maung Ni, a daily labourer says he was given a bundle of Yaba tablets by Ismail, a police collaborator of Myoma Kayan Dan village, to carry it to exit/re-entry jetty of Maungdaw Town.

Maung Ni says he did not know what was inside the packet. But on his way he was arrested with 3,000 Yaba tablets in the packet. These tablets were earlier sold to a Bangladeshi drug agent by Ismail and money had already been taken from the buyer.  It is claimed that Ismail planned to seize all the money and tablets from the Bangladeshi drug agent. The bulk of the drugs were taken by the police and Ismail and only 750 Yaba tablets were handed into the Maungdaw police station. Meanwhile, the falsely accused Maung Ni has been detained in police custody, said another village elder who for security reasons declined to be named.

It is not the first time Maungdaw police have been involved in arresting villagers for trumped-up drug offences.

On July 30, Sayed Alam (29) son of Ibrahim, from Myoma Kayan Dan village of Maungdaw Township was arrested by Maungdaw police over an allegation that he was involved in drug trafficking. A local leader said Sayed Alam was innocent and as a teacher a respected member of the community.

In spite of his good character police, forcibly entered Sayed Alam’s home and broke into a wooden safe box and took Kyat 80,000 and 0.5 Tical of gold. According to another local leader when police found no evidence, linking Sayed Alam, to drugs he was released, but his valuables were not returned.

On July 7, Abdul Amin (45), son of Ali Ahmed, from Myoma Kayan Dan of Maungdaw Township was arrested by Maungdaw Town  police and accused of drug trafficking. The police accompanied by Village Peace and Development Council (VPDC) members and renowned police collaborator Ismail entered Abdul Amin’s house and confiscated 3.5 Ticals of gold and 1.73 million Kyat. A local businessman said Abdul Amin, was later released and the police returned his gold but kept the large amount of cash.

Villagers and townspeople said all the arrested people were innocent. They say these people were arrested because of their wealth. These people had no links with drugs. Maungdaw Township police are targeting people in the area for their own financial benefit and in doing so are denying local people access to justice.

A local trader from Maungdaw Town said the three main drug trafficker groups operating in the area are: Khin Maung Win’s group it includes one Sayadaw (monk) and known police informer Mohamed Alam, the second group is led by police officer Aung Kyaw Kan’ it includes Sergeant Maung Chay, and the third group is led by U Tin Aye and includes Me Naing from Taungup, and drug dealer Ismail from Myoma Kaya Dan village.

It is ironic the three drug gangs are led by police officers. U Tin Aye is a motor traffic officer, Aung Kyaw Kan is the officer of Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and Khin Maung Maung Win is Hloon Htin officer and works in the Intelligence department. These three people who are the main drug traffickers have worked with the Drug Enforcement Agency and arrested and accused innocent people of drug trafficking and extorting money.

A concerned local school teacher said, “The police authorities and Nasaka (Burma’s border security force) arrest well to do Rohingya families by giving false evidence and fabricating allegations. After the arrests the authorities are taken to a camp and tortured. To extort money quickly from the families the victims are severely tortured to make family members pay.”