Tag: indian

Boat captain arrested in connection with two kilograms of drugs discovered on ‘MSV Maria Janemal’

Maldives Customs have seized two kilograms of illegal narcotics smuggled into the Maldives by an Indian cargo vessel named MSV Maria Janemal.

According to a statement issued by the customs department, the drugs were packed into four packets.

Three of the packets contained 2105 grams of heroin and the fourth packet contained 85 grams of hashish oil, according to the customs department.

The customs department said the drugs were hidden in two location of the cargo vessel.

“The captain of the boat and the seized drugs have now been handed over to the police for further investigation,” the customs department said in the statement.

The customs department said that the drugs were seized on February 23 in an operation conducted based on intelligence reports.

According to the customs department, all the passengers of the vessel were Indian nationals and were still under customs charge.

Customs said the boat arrived to the Maldives on February 16, carrying fruits and vegetables from India to be imported to the Maldives.

On November 27 last year, police seized a local drug network and arrested five Maldivians and four Indians while they were in possession of 9 kilograms of illegal substances.

The men were arrested after they arrived in the Maldives aboard a cargo boat named ‘Silver Cloud 49’, a vessel carrying goods from India to the Maldives that had just unloaded eggs, potatoes and onions from Tuticorin port in India.

In May last year, the Police Drug Enforcement Department (DED) have busted a large drug network they alleged centered around a 56 year-old man working on the cargo vessel ‘MV Reina’, and seized a large quantity of cannabis and illegal drugs trafficked into the country.

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Police arrest three men in connection with rape of Indian teacher on Dhangethi

Additional reporting by JJ Robinson.

The police have arrested three men in connection with the rape of an Indian teacher on the island of Dhangethi in Alifu Dhaalu Atoll, a source with knowledge of the investigation has confirmed to Minivan News.

‘’The three men were arrested and have been taken to the island of Mahibadhoo in Alifu Dhaalu Atoll,’’ the source said. None of the men arrested were over the age of 23, he added.

The incident occurred on Sunday (February 10) – some time between 2:30am and 2:45am, the source said.

“The victim was taken to Mahibadhoo Hospital where she is being treated for the injuries she suffered from the incident. There was blood all over her room when the police attended the scene,” Minivan News was told.

The source said the three men were accused not only of raping the 25 year-old computer teacher, but of stealing her mobile phone, an Acer laptop, and MVR 9000 (US$583) in cash.

‘’She lived alone in a big house consisting of three rooms. The suspects may have climbed over the wall to get in,’’ the source said, adding that the victim had not spoken to anybody following the incident.

Police Sub-Inspector Hassan Haneef confirmed to Minivan News this morning that there had been some “developments” in the investigation, and that police would be releasing a statement.

“She is in hospital recovering and is getting better day by day,” he said.

India’s Ministry of External Affairs meanwhile told a press conference of Indian journalists on Tuesday (February 12) that the Indian High Commission in the Maldives was investigating the matter.

“Apparently the lady in question works in a private computer school in the Maldives. She was also badly injured. She has been given blood transfusion, and her condition now is stable,” the MEA spokesperson said, adding that the Indian government had contacted the Maldives’ acting Minister for Human Rights, Gender and Family, Dr Mariyam Shakeela.

“The High Commission [on Tuesday] morning sent two officials including a lady officer to the atoll to try and provide whatever support we can on account of this sad happening there. We have taken it up quite strongly with the government of Maldives, and we hope that justice will be done in this case promptly,  and this has been assured to us by the concerned Maldivian authorities,” the MEA spokesperson said.

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Young Indian teacher hospitalised in “very serious condition” after alleged rape

A young Indian teacher working on the island of Dhangethi in Alif Dhaal Atoll has been hospitalised after a group of people broke into her home on Sunday night and allegedly raped her.

The 25 year-old woman is in a “very serious condition” following the attack, said the Island Council President Azim Adam.

“They broke in [to her house] around 2:15am. I came to know about it at 4:00am and I instantly reported it to the police. The girl is now in the atoll hospital in a very serious condition,” Adam said.

A source close to the victim said she was in the hospital’s intensive care unit but was “bleeding uncontrollably.”

“We have put seven pints of blood into her but she is still bleeding. It is a very serious issue. We are planning to send her to India, there is not much more we are able to do here,” the source said, adding that her brother had arrived in the Maldives and was on the island.

The Indian High Commission in the capital Male’ said it had been informed of the incident and had received the woman’s details from the police.

Maldives Police Service (MPS) Spokesperson Sub Inspector Hassan Haneef said specialist teams were investigating the incident. He could not confirm whether any arrests had been made, but said further details would be released to the media at a later stage.

Local media reported that the woman was teaching a private computer course on the island.

Island Council President Adam said the young woman had been working on the island for less than a month, and described her as a “very kind person who was very friendly towards the local islanders”.

Dhangethi is the third largest populated island of Alif Dhaal Atoll, with a population of around 1200 people.

An official from the Indian High Commission noted that a similar case had occurred in 2011 involving an Indian nurse working on an island in the Maldives.

“I told the police that [in 2011] there was a rape case like this whereby a nurse was raped on one of the islands. However in that instance all of the suspects were later acquitted in court,” the official added.

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Detained Indian fishermen released

Eleven Indian fishermen have been released after they were last week taken into custody by the Maldives National Defence Force Coastguard for straying into Maldivian waters.

The fishermen were released into the care of the Indian High Commission in Male’, police reported, after a request by India’s External Affairs Ministry.

The fishermen had been detained on Kulhudhuffushi in Haa Dhaal Atoll.

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India extends financial support to the Maldives

India has provided a standby loan of US$20 million to the Maldives as the country descends into political turmoil, reports the Economic Times.

Indian High Commissioner to the Maldives, D M Mulay, told the paper that the Indian government had expedited the delivery of the loan, which had been given to the Maldives government several days ago.

US$50 million in Maldives’ treasury bonds held by the State Bank of India “has also been rolled over for another year”, Mulay told reporters.

President Mohamed Waheed Hassan’s Political Advisor, Dr Hassan Saeed, in a recent leaked audio clip, expressed concern about the involvement of “a lot of foreign partners” and “huge bilateral pressures”, in particular a US$50 million owed by the Maldives to an unspecified lender: “Fifty million dollars has to be raised before the end of this month or there will be a sovereign default,” he said, in the recording earlier this week.

The same paper recently reported that SBI had issued a moratorium on loans in the Maldives until June.

Indian Foreign Secretary Shri Ranjan Mathai visited the Maldives on Monday to push ahead peace talks between parties in the Maldives.

Mathai was a key proponent of  a ‘roadmap’ document proposing early presidential elections, with necessary amendments to the constitution and  laws to be completed within a month’s time.

Former President Mohamed Nasheed’s Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has been pushing for an early election date, maintaining that Dr Waheed’s government is illegitimate, while the new government has insisted that “conditions have to be right”.

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