The Myanmar Police threatened a Rohingya and extorted money from him in Buthidaung Township last Friday for keeping the picture of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in his phone, according to reliable sources.

Around 2:30PM on November 20, a team of five police officers from ‘Regional Security Department’ from the Police Station stopped the Rohingya passers-by and checked out their hand-phone sets. Upon searching their phones, the police found the picture of Daw Aung San Suu Kyin saved in the photo of a person named U Aziz Nazir Hussein.

The police said “Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is not a leader of the nation but a puppet of the Western Nations. Why do you keep her photos in your phone?

Doing so is an insult to the President of the nation.”

After that, the police threatened him and extorted Kyat 150,000.  After that, they released him, according to an eyewitness.

Similarly, a Border Guard Police (BGP) staff named U Nay Lin Aung threatened a Rohingya in ‘Ye Nouk Nga Thar’ village in northern Maungdaw Township on November 21 for finding a photo of President Thein Sein in his (the Rohingya’s) phone.

The BGP Staff said to the victim named U Chitfa Ishaaq “you filthy people don’t have the right to carry the photos of the nation’s leader.” He then extorted Kyat 100,000 from him, said a local in the village.

The BGP Staff, Nay Lin Aung, serves as the Bodyguard of the Commander of the Police Station in ‘Nga Ran Chaung’ village under the Commandment Region 2 in northern Maungdaw. He committed the money extortion while he was on leave to his native village ‘Taman Thar.’

For a few months, the Myanmar armed forces such Police, Border Guard Police and Military have escalated money extortion from the local Rohingyas on blatant accusations. Nobody takes actions against the atrocious acts, local people complaint.