Maungdaw, Arakan State: As of last week police in Maungdaw Town have resumed harassment of the Rohingya community going to Maungdaw market from local villages, said a local youth on condition of anonymity.

Earlier, in 2009, the police of Maungdaw Town and Buthidaung Townships made arbitrary arrests, tortured, detained the Rohingyas and extorted money from them on their way to Maungdaw and Buthidaung Towns.

In the beginning of this year, the police of both towns had stopped harassment of the Rohingya community, for unknown reasons. But, some people said that after the sacking of two police officers of Maungdaw Town in 2009, the harassment of the Rohingya community by police stopped, said a local schoolteacher.

However, the police in Maungdaw Town have resumed harassing the Rohingya community as of the beginning of last week.  The police arrest Rohingya villagers who go to Maungdaw market over allegations that they are  involved in human trafficking, in Yaba tablet smuggling, border crossing, having Bangladeshi mobile phones without permission, and communicating with foreign countries where their relatives stay. They are released after taking money.

But, in Buthidaung Town, police cannot arrest or harass any Rohingya without getting any document from them, said a local trader.

Most of the police are from the Rakhine community in Maungdaw and Buthidaung Townships, so they harass Rohingyas if they get a chance, said an elder.

In Buthidaung and Maungdaw Townships, policemen are the one of the richest government employees. They collect money from Rohingyas arbitrarily and become rich.  The wives of police buy gold ornaments. Earlier, they (police) had never bought gold ornaments because their salary is too low to support their families, said a local businessman from Maungdaw town.

The local villagers have called upon higher authorities to look into the matter and halt the harassment immediately.