Gang Leaders Arrested Over December Violence

The police have arrested “senior members” of street gangs accused of orchestrating three days of violence that rocked Male’ earlier this month.

“Those arrested are those who were directly responsible for the violence,” a police spokesperson told Haveeru, a government newspaper, on Tuesday.

“We are currently interrogating them. The investigation is ongoing,” the police spokesperson added.

Ten people, including three police officers, were injured and tens of thousands of rufiyaa worth of property was damaged as rival gangs battled each other in the capital on 16, 17 and 18 December.

The police say a total of nine people have so far been arrested in connection with the disturbances.

The violence is believed to have been sparked by two specific incidents, the beating of a thirteen-year-old boy, who was hospitalised earlier this month and, on Sunday 17 December at around 11:30pm, a violent attack on a man at Trends restaurant.

The incidents sparked retribution which saw trouble escalate throughout the night of the 17. Armed gangs were seen roaming the streets with swords, knives, bats and other weapons.

The police were heavily criticised by members of the public for failing to quell the violence soon enough. The police, however, insist they did everything they could to stop the violence.

Gang warfare in the overcrowded capital has now reached a level which the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) says is unprecedented, and “totally shocking.”

The growing gang culture is in part blamed on widespread heroin addiction among the country’s youth population.

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