Junta soldiers and police subjected passersby to inspection in Kyay Taw Ywama village, part of Arakan State’s Sittwe Township, on Sunday evening, according to locals.

Around 50 security personnel were involved in the checks at the entrance to the village’s main road, and the reason for their scrutiny was not known, a villager from Kyay Taw Ywama said on condition of anonymity.

“When I entered the village, the junta soldiers stopped me and asked me to open the trunk. They swore as they checked. When I asked why they were checking, they replied that there was no reason,” said the villager.

A junta contingent has been deployed at the entrance to Kyay Taw Ywama village for some time, and they make checks on passersby at random, according to another villager.

“Sometimes they make checks during the daytime, sometimes they make checks at night. We don’t know the reason,” he said.

Kyay Taw Ywama village administrator U Win Tha confirmed to DMG that junta soldiers made checks on Sunday, but said he also did not know the reason.

A police officer who asked not to be named said: “We make checks as part of our duties. Such checks are common everywhere.”

DMG was unable to obtain comment from Arakan State’s security and border affairs minister, Colonel Kyaw Thura, about the junta inspections in Kyay Taw Ywa Ma village.

Junta soldiers, police, firefighters and local administrative officials also visited Sett Yone Su ward in Sittwe on the evening of March 17, looking for overnight guests.

On March 14, junta soldiers asked ward administrators and locals in Lay Taung town, Ramree Township, for population and household data in their wards, and also enquired as to whether residents had any ties to the Arakan Army (AA) or its political wing, the United League of Arakan (ULA).

It has been more than one year since the Arakan Army and Myanmar’s military reached an unofficial ceasefire in Arakan State.