Junta forces arrest another group of 30 Sittwe residents

The military junta forces of Myanmar have arrested 33 more local residents from Sittwe, the capital city of Rakhine State.

On 1 January, nearly  100 soldiers  arrived at Aung Tun Thein village, located east of Wailuwon monastery in Set Yoe Kya ward of  Sittwe, with military vehicles and picked up 22 local residents.

"In the afternoon too, 11 individuals were arrested. The soldiers entered the village again at 11 pm and arrested them," said a local villager.

Those 11 locals were arrested for constructing bomb shelters in their residential complexes. The soldiers even threatened to arrest more people if found the bomb shelters in their places.

Among the detainees there are cycle-rickshaw driver, mother of children and other. One pregnant woman was released later. Another resident said that some villagers were returning home after  11 pm and they were also arrested by the soldiers.

"They came back during the night hours and faced the arrest under pretext of an overnight guest list inspection. Some of them were taken into custody,” added a resident.

The other family members have gone to the police station to  secure their release.

Moreover on 29 December, an eyewitness reported that nine  local individuals from Min Gan (blocks 1 and 2) along with two young men from block 3  were also arrested by the junta forces.

They were detained by a group of 70  junta soldiers, police personnel and some other individuals associated with the junta.

"In Min Gan block 3, the son of U Aung Chey, a pork seller, and his friend were arrested. Nine other individuals, including the son of a woman, who sells turmeric sticky rice, were also detained. The arrests were carried out by a group of soldiers, police personnel and junta affiliates. U Aung Chey's son along with his friend were arrested as their names did not figure in the overnight guest list. They were
instructed to report to number one police station to resolve the matter,” said a resident.

Among the 60 individuals detained in Sittwe on 12 December there are boatmen and vendors at Korea's BXT port.

Total number of arrests in Sittwe  exceeds 90 including the current 33 individuals who were detained recently.