11 Homes, A Shop And A Mosque Burnt Into Ashes In Duchiradan Middle Hamlet

Source RB, March 9

Maungdaw, Arakan – A fire broke out in Duchiradan middle hamlet on the morning of March 9, 2014 at 10:30am in the middle hamlet in Duchiradan village in the Maungdaw Township of Arakan State. 11 Rohingya houses, a shop and a mosque burnt down into ashes there.

A local told RB News; "Maungdaw district and township administrator came to Duchiradan after the incident. Two Rohingya women from the east hamlet claimed that they saw four police entered into the village by riding two motorbikes and the fire broke out 20 minutes after they got into village. The women were arrested immediately and taken to the Maungdaw police station."

Another local from Duchiradan said; "Only two houses and a mosque were burnt down in the beginning but another fire broke out from northern side after the police forces entered into the village from all sides while we were extinguishing the fire at the first two houses and the mosque. Finally we lost another 9 houses and a shop." He explained RB News how he saw the two houses and a mosque were burning and how the fire popped up from another side of the village as a different group of police entered. Villagers who were fighting the fire were forced to flee from their effort when the police entered. 

The owners of the houses and shop lost in the fire are:

(1) Muzawbawr S/o Issali  

(2) Salimullah S/o Mamed Hussein 

(3) Zawfaw Hussein S/o Issali  

(4) Sawmaid S/o Zawfaw Hussein  

(5) Ameen S/o Musali  

(6) Shabir Ahmed S/o Saleh Ahmed  

(7) Sultan Ahmed S/o Tawzum Ali  

(8) Yaseen S/o Tawzum Ali  

(9) Noor Ameen S/o Kalaya  

(10) Mamed Alam S/o Dawbir 

(11) Noor Ahmed S/o Ruskum Ali  

(12) A Shop of Shukur Ahmed

The police torched the houses in at that time, mostly abandoned Duchiradan's west hamlet on the last week of January 2014 and made false news that the houses were torched by the owners themselves. Often holding witnesses and forcing them to sign papers to clear local authority of any wrongdoing. Placing blame on the owners of the property. 

The two female witnesses who were arrested after talking about the police presence for the fire began were held in similar fashion as the witness in January. Forced to say that the fire was started by the locals. Their names are Daw Lay Doe and Daw Halima. They were released by police after fulfilling this demand. Now the Ministry of Information of Myanmar posted in their news portal and said that the burnt properties in were also torched by the owners themselves.

"As usual it is a joke by Ye Htut, presidential spokesman. Everyone who has good ability in thinking can imagine whether it could be true or not. Ye Htut will never torch his house to get promotion. Ministry of Information is (there) to propagate and they never write anything about their crimes. They are (there) to protect their government. They never circulate any correct information in their life time. Now this type of propaganda is becoming nothing but a big joke for the international community." a Rohingya activist told RB News.