Passengers returning from Yangon interrogation at Sittwe airport

 A number of passengers, who returned from Yangon, are being detained for interrogation at Sittwe airport.

A relative of an arrested youth informed Narinjara News that the passengers were detained for interrogation by the soldiers and police personnel at Sittwe airport at 9 am on Monday.

The passengers, many of them young, travelled by five Yangon-Sittwe planes.

"My nephew is also arrested. He hails from Pauktaw township and is 18 years old. He came via Mann Yadanarpon airlines. He faced interrogation for hours. I heard that many government employees were released, but he was not released. We have had no contact with him till now,” added the relative.

The passengers were taken to the temple at Lawkananda Pagoda in Sittwe.

"The soldiers detained the passengers coming by five planes. I guess around 200 people will be interrogated. I do not know why they are being interrogated,” stated the relative.

The detainees are understood as being checked for copies of the census. Some were questioned about their destination and some were released.

"The soldiers  suspect there may be some Arakan Army members among the passengers," said a Sittwe based government employee.

On 18 February a Myanmar Airline plane landed at Kyaukphyu airport and all the 67 passengers were detained for interrogation by the general administrator and security personnel.