Arrests and extortion in Maungdaw

Maungdaw, Arakan State: Yesterday, at 10 p.m., three men were arrested by the local border security force (Nasaka).
They were at a village shop eating jelaphi, a locally made sweet, said a relative of the victims.
The arrested men were identified as Sayeddul Amin (22), son of Abdu Zalil, ali Zuhar (30), son of Noru Alam, and Mohamed Noor (23), son of Mohamed Jalil. They all lived in Nanda Khali village, which is in the Nasaka’s Area No.6 in Maungdaw Township.
A group of Nasaka personnel, who were on duty at the village administration office, went to the shop and made the arrests, claiming the three were drinking wine.
The three men were physically abused by the Nasaka who demanded money for their release while keeping them in a stockade.
Upon paying 700,000 kyats to the Nasaka, the men were released the following morning, said a close friend of the victims.
“They were only eating jelaphi. They did not commit a crime but were arrested and tortured. The Nasaka demanded money to release them,” said a village elder.
“People across Arakan State hope the visiting US Secretary of State Ms. Hillary Clinton will pressure the new army-basked civilian Burmese government on the human rights violation that occur in every part of the Burma,” said a local elder from Maungdaw Town.