Tag: police

Transport authority to destroy impounded vehicles

The transport authority has declared it will destroy all vehicles impounded by the police in their tow yard, despite a notice from parliament’s government oversight committee ordering it not to destroy the vehicles.

Speaking to the press today, chairman of the transport authority Abdul Rasheed Nafiz said that he did not believe that parliament could give the authority such an order as the motor vehicle act required the transport ministry to destroy impounded vehicles if the owner did not pay the fines within a certain duration.

Nafiz told the press that if MPs were worried about citizen’s property being destroyed they should amend the motor vehicle act to prevent the impounding and destruction of vehicles, or vote on the matter.

On June 24, police announced the impounded vehicles in the police tow yard would be destroyed if the owners did not claim them.

Police Spokesperson Ismail Ali told Minivan News that owners had already been given three months to reclaim their vehicles.

“The three month duration expired last Friday,’’ Ismail said. ‘’The tow yard is full now and we need the land for other purposes.’’

According to Ismail this is the first time  police will destroy vehicles since the motor transport act came in to effect.

‘’These vehicles that we are going to destroy have been here since 2008,’’ he said.

He said a committee consisting of members from Male City council, police, media, and transport authority will decide how to destroy these vehicles.

‘’The committee will give instructions to police,’’ he added.

Following the decision by police, Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Ahmed ‘Bonda’ Rasheed staged a one-man protest inside the parliament chamber.

The Speaker Abdulla Shahid repeatedly asked Rasheed to take his seat, and after several hours asked security officials to remove him from the parliament chamber.

Later that day the issue was filed at the government oversight committee and the committee passed a motion to send a notice to the transport authority requesting it not destroy the vehicles.

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Bangladeshi national stabbed in Addu City

Police have reported that a Bangladeshi national living in Addu City was stabbed yesterday (June 29).

Police said the incident occurred last night at about 10:50pm, and that the man was stabbed twice in the back.

The man was admitted to Hithadhoo Regional Hospital for treatment and was released this morning, police said.

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Police accuse former Home Minister of defrauding Madoogali Resort of service charge payments

Police have accused the former government’s Home Minister Hassan Afeef and a fellow shareholder of Madoogali Resort of implementing a policy halting service charge payments to staff, as required by the Employment Act.

In a statement police said company involved was Blue Lagoon Investment Private Limited, and identified the second shareholder as Moosa Hassan of Mathidhoo in the Maafaanu ward of Male.

Police alleged that Blue Lagoon Investment Private Limited had taken a 10 percent service charge from the tourists from November 2011 to January 2013, but failed to account for this in documentation.

Police claimed their investigation had revealed that the shareholders had defrauded 29 percent of the money they took as service charge.

According to police, the two shareholders also mortgaged the resort with a bank without consulting with the company’s third shareholder, against the regulations of the tourism ministry.

Police alleged the money from the bank was then used to pay the rent of Raafushi Island in Noonu Atoll, an uninhabited island being developed into a resort by a company shared by the two shareholders, Afeef and Moosa.

Speaking to Minivan News, Hassan Afeef alleged Police Commissioner Abdulla Riyaz had been bribed and told Minivan News to call Riyaz and “ask him more about it”.

Afeef then referred Minivan News to his lawyers as the case was going to be taken up in court.

Mauroof Zakir Hussein of the Tourism Employment Association of the Maldives (TEAM) said the organisation had not received any complaints from staff at the resort concerning service charge payments.

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Customs seize MVR 10 million worth of drugs hidden in mattresses

Customs officials last night seized 11.6 kilograms of illegal narcotics which they claim has an estimated street value of more than MVR 10 million (US$650,000).

The shipment of drugs was hidden inside foam mattresses imported from India.

Customs Superintendent Abdulla Shareef said in a press conference today that customs intelligence had received information about the shipment two months ago, and had been preparing for the operation for a long time.

The drugs were smuggled into the country on a cargo boat that set out from India on June 19, according to Shareef.

Shareef told the press that customs officials searched the boat at 10:00pm while it was docked in the Male’ commercial harbour, and discovered 14 packets hidden inside seven mattresses.

Two Maldivians have been arrested in connection with the case.

According to Shareef, the packets included one kilogram of heroin and 10.6 kilograms of hash oil.

He said the drugs seized were handed to police early this morning.

Police spokesperson Ismail Ali told Minivan News police could not give any details on the case and said they would only confirm the shipment had been handed over.

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Two men to be charged with the stabbing of MP Hamdhoon’s bodyguard

Police have sent the names of two men to the Prosecutor General’s Office (PG) requesting they be charged with the stabbing of a Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF) officer, who was serving as the bodyguard of Inguraidhoo Constituency MP Hamdhoon Hameed.

Police identified the two men as Ghanim Abdul Gafoor, 20 of Male’ and Ramiz Ali, 23 of Isdhoo in Laamu Atoll.

In a statement issued today, police alleged that in March 2013 the pair men assaulted the MNDF officer while he was in Lonuziyarai Magu. According to police the incident occurred at about 10:30pm.

MNDF officer Private Ibrahim Areef of the Special Protection Group was stabbed while he was near Imperial Medical Clinic. Areef sustained injuries to his head, torso and arm in the  attack.

The MNDF told the media at the time that Areef was attacked by a group of eight men. He was immediately taken to Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) with the assistance of civilians and police.

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Police arrest GIP council member Ahmed Faiz in Supreme Court Justice sex tape scandal

A council member of President Dr Mohamed Waheed’s Gaumee Ihthihaad Party (GIP) and Project Advisor at the Housing Ministry, Ahmed Faiz, has been arrested and placed under remand detention for 15 days, police have confirmed.

According to local media reports, the former Maldives Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) Managing Director and Deputy CEO of the Maldives Ports Limited (MPL) was arrested on Tuesday while trying to sell a sex tape of a Supreme Court Justice.

The Criminal Court on Wednesday afternoon (June 26) granted an extension of 15 days for Faiz’s detention.

A police media official told Minivan News that police could not divulge further details apart from confirming that Faiz was “arrested in connection with a case currently under investigation.”

While local media reports did not identify the judge involved in the case, photos of Supreme Justice Ali Hameed in a hotel room with a woman began circulating on social media in March this year.

President’s Office Media Secretary Masood Imad told Minivan News today that Faiz has been sacked from his project advisor post at the Housing Ministry, to which he was appointed at the deputy minister-level in March 2012.

Masood Imad also confirmed that Faiz is a member of GIP’s executive council.

Faiz was also the GIP representative at press conferences of the unofficial “December 23 coalition” of eight political parties that organised a mass gathering in 2011 against the allegedly anti-Islamic policies of former President Mohamed Nasheed.

Faiz was present at a press event of the December 23 alliance on January 8, 2012 where the group announced plans for a “mass symposium” for February 24, 2012. He was also present when opposition leaders met then-Vice President Dr Waheed in his official residence at 1:00am on January 31 – seven days before the controversial transfer of presidential power – and pledged their allegiance to the vice-president.

Faiz participated in the press conference later that night when opposition party leaders called on the police and army to pledge allegiance to Dr Waheed and “not carry out any orders given by President Nasheed.”

In August 2012, an audio clip of Faiz in conversation with a group of unidentified men was aired on opposition-aligned private broadcaster Raajje TV after it was leaked on social media.

Faiz told Minivan News at the time that the clip was authentic and recorded in March 2012 but claimed that it was cut and edited together.

In the 15-minute audio, Faiz boasts of his influence within the government as a “close confidante” of President Waheed and attempts to hire the men to disrupt activities of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).

Faiz claimed in the leaked audio that he was in a position to embezzle large amounts of money from MBC and the State Trading Organisation (STO).

He also spoke of President Waheed’s reluctance to remain allied with former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom’s Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) and of plans to “take Maumoon out of the political picture.”

“The truth is that there is quite a lot of support for Maumoon too, and we have to accept that. If a political gathering is to be held in this country, at this moment it’s only PPM or MDP that can gather a good amount of people. No one else can do it, ok? This is the political reality of now,” Faiz is heard saying.

GIP Faiz“We are not at all aiming to keep them close to us. The real objective is to destroy this… thing… that Maumoon has. This cannot be done by even Anni, or by anyone else in this country, unless we stay within them, and let them into the government. There is simply no other way. Now I’ve gone and said something I was not meaning to share! I have just shared with you a huge secret.”

Faiz also claimed in the leaked conversation that he was “the biggest key” for the transfer of presidential power on February 7, 2012.

“All that was done, all the deals that were made, all that was done, all the people that we met with, within defense, even within police; nothing would have taken place without my knowledge, without my participation,” he is heard saying in a second clip.

“If this is a coup government and there is a death sentence given out, I will be among the first to be sentenced to death. So what even I want is money, do you understand? I’m telling you the truth, it is to gain money that I have come into this.”

First audio clip

Second audio clip

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Police to hire 75 civil assistants as non-uniformed personnel

The Maldives Police Service (MPS) has made an announcement in the government gazette on Sunday (June 23) seeking to hire 75 “civil assistants” as non-uniformed personnel for administrative work.

A police media official explained to Minivan News today that the MPS planned to assign all administrative work to civil staff and free up “uniformed police officers for operations.”

While there were civil staff working for police at present, the media official added, uniformed personnel with police training were also carrying out administrative tasks, such as “answering the phone at police stations and writing reports.”

Shifting all administrative work to civil staff would allow uniformed personnel to attend to police work and election security matters ahead of the presidential election in September, the media official said.

According to the criteria listed in the job announcement, interested candidates must have at least two O’ Level C passes, must have passed Dhivehi and Islam, and must not have been convicted of a crime with a punishment prescribed in the Quran or theft, fraud, embezzlement, drug abuse or drug trafficking in the past five years.

In addition, applicants must not have sought treatment or rehabilitation for drug abuse during the past five years and must not be a registered member of a political party.

The deadline for submitting application forms, available on the police website and at the police headquarters, is 4:00pm on July 4.

The civil assistants will be paid monthly wages of MVR 3,470 (US$225) in addition to MVR 1,000 (US$65) a month as a service allowance and 35 percent of the salary as a non-practice allowance.

The new police staff will cost the state MVR 426,300 (US$27,645) a month and MVR 5.1 million (US$330,739) a year.

The announcement seeking 75 civil assistants followed the recruitment of new officers for a “special constabulary” reserve force in May this year.

Reserve force officers were to be paid 85 percent of the salary of a regular police officer of the same rank.

Budget crisis

Following the controversial transfer of presidential power on February 7, 2012 in the wake of a violent mutiny instigated by officers of the Special Operations (SO) command, more than 1000 police officers were promoted, 110 new police officers were hired, a housing scheme was introduced for police officers with 300 flats to be constructed in Hulhumale’, arrangements were made for cheap accommodation in Sri Lanka for police officers and their families and a loan scheme was set up for police officers.

The additional recurrent expenditure on wages for new police staff comes at a time when the country is facing a budget crisis, with island schools and hospitals understaffed, local councils unable to settle outstanding utility bills, and development projects stalled over lack of funds.

In April, Finance Minister Abdulla Jihad sought authorisation from parliament to divert MVR 650 million (US$42 million) allocated for infrastructure projects in the budget to cover recurrent expenditure.

Jihad warned that government offices and independent institutions might be unable to pay salaries or electricity and phone bills if funds were not transferred from the MVR 1.8 billion (US$117 million) Public Sector Investment Programme (PSIP).

Earlier in April, the cabinet decided to delay implementation of new development projects financed out of the state budget due to shortfalls in revenue.

Moreover, in a report on the Maldivian justice system released in May, UN Special Rapporteur for the Independence of Judges and Lawyers, Gabriela Knaul, expressed concern of an impending budget crisis for the judiciary.

“The immediate implications of the budget cuts on the judiciary are appalling. For instance, the Department of Judicial Administration only has funds to pay staff salaries until November 2013 and it had to cancel training this year,” Knaul noted.

“The Civil Court reported that it would not have sufficient funds to pay its staff salaries after October 2013; furthermore, existing budgetary resources would not be sufficient to pay for utilities and facilities after June 2013,” she added.

During the parliamentary debate last year on the state budget proposed for 2013, opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MPs criticised budgeted salary increases for military and police officers as well as plans to hire 800 new personnel for the security services.

The state’s annual wage bill was projected to skyrocket by 37 percent in 2013 as a result of hiring more employees.

MDP MP Eva Abdulla claimed during the budget debate that the police and army hired 250 and 350 new staff respectively in 2012.

Consequently, the institutions spent more than MVR 75 million (US$4.8 million) in addition to the approved budgets for 2012, she claimed.

Meanwhile, in its professional opinion on the budget submitted to parliament, the Auditor General’s Office observed that compared to 2012, the number of state employees was set to rise from 32,868 to 40,333 – resulting in MVR 1.3 billion (US$84.3 million) of additional expenditure in 2013.

This anticipated increase included 864 new staff to be hired by the security services, the Auditor General’s Office noted.

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Seven islanders to be charged for assault of Indian teacher on Kumundhoo

Police have sent the names of seven islanders of Kumundhoo Island in Haa Dhaalu Atoll to the Prosecutor General’s Office (PG) requesting they be charged in connection with the assault of an Indian teacher.

Police identified the seven persons charged as Hassan Riyaz, 27, of Male’,  and Hassan Rasheed, 35, Abdulla Hassan, 41, Husain Naseer, 36, Husam Ibrahim, 22, Junaidh Ibrahim, 18, Hajara Ali, 35, all from the island of Kumundhoo.

Police alleged that on May 14 the group entered the island school of Kumundhoo and assaulted the teacher while he was inside a classroom teaching.

According to police the investigation into the case was concluded and sent to the Prosecutor General for prosecution on June 17.

On May 15 Minivan News reported that an Indian physics teacher was hospitalised after a group of angry islanders confronted him and beat him up after accusing him of hitting a student in the chest.

“The expat teacher hit a 13 year-old student in the chest and the child fell and couldn’t breathe and was taken to the health centre,” Island Councilor Ali Anwar told Minivan News at the time.

“The islanders became angry at the teacher and gathered outside the school. The security guard and school staff were unable to control them.”

He said the islanders destroyed a power distribution unit outside the school cutting off its electricity, and then attacked the expat teacher.

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Police arrest Bangladeshi man following raid of Thinadhoo restaurant

Police have arrested a 30 year-old Bangladeshi national in connection with the discovery of a large quantity of illegal narcotics stashed inside a restaurant on Thinadhoo in Gaafu Dhaalu Atoll.

According to police, the restaurant was raided as part of an ongoing special operation to prepare the island for the upcoming presidential elections.

Police said the Bangladeshi man was arrested on June 23 inside a house on the island.

During the raid of the restaurant, police discovered 36 bullet sized packets of illegal drugs, three empty film cans containing illegal drugs, 15 rubber packets and a small plastic bag containing illegal drugs.

The raid on the restaurant was a joint operation conducted by the Drug Enforcement Department (DED), Special Operations (SO), police intelligence and Thinadhoo police station.

Earlier this week, police issued a statement announcing a decision to station officers of the Special Operations (SO) command on Thinadhoo.

A police spokesperson who declined to be named told Minivan News the Bangladeshi man was still in police custody.

“We have not arrested anyone else in connection with the case,” the spokesperson said.

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