Chief Inspector Abdul Matheen Abdul Kareem, the officer in command of the Maldives Police Service’s traffic unit, has been appointed as commander of the special operations (SO) force.
Inspector of Police Ibrahim Mohamed, the SO unit’s previous commander, was transferred from this position last Sunday. The inspector was given charge of the police’s custodial facility.
Mohamed in command of the SO unit before as well and was briefly relieved of this duty in February. He was replaced at the command of then Commissioner of Police Hussein Areef.
After Commissioner Areef’s replacement, Hussein Saif, was removed following a series of controversial moves within the policing institute – instigated by the Supreme Court ruling on February 1st –Mohamed was again put in charge of the unit.
The SO unit is a militarized force within the Maldives Police Service that undertake high-risk operations and is most often deploy as riot police at protests and demonstrations.
