May 25, 2017
Akyab- Another fire in Akyab township is now raising suspicions that this might be planned attacks by nationalist outfits, say local sources.
At around 9.30 pm on Tuesday, a fire engulfed a Rohingya market place in Goyalar Dil, destroying almost all shops.
During this time, when locals ran forward to douse the fire, they were barred by police forces. When the fire started to spread to the Rakhine areas, firefighters came to the scene and made sure it did not touch those places.
The fire came from the direction of a Rakhine settlement called Te Chaung. Locals say it was at first a small fire which could easily have been put out if the police had let them. Later it went very big and damaged millions of kyats of Rohingya property and wiped ot the resources of many entrepreneurs.
The nature of the police intervention has raised suspicions that this might have been an arson attack.
However, the government alleges Rohingyas put fire on their own properties to attract international sympathy and place blame on Buddhist outfits. Following incidents like this, it is most often the victims that get charged by the police.
