Maldives Police Service (MPS) has said that their General Investigations Department had received a total of 71 theft cases in the first three months of the year.

Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, officers stated that a total of 11 arrests had been made in connection to the robberies that were reported to them.

While most of these cases were reported in connection to mobile phone robberies, robbers in most cases were unarmed, officers revealed. Out of the 71, 43 are to do with phone snatching on the streets.

Second highest cases are of robbers snatching handbags, wallets and other personal belongings on the streets which were recorded at eight. Out of the eight, four were investigated and forwarded for prosecution.

Most of these cases were reported at night, near the artificial beach region, swimming track and Malé industrial zone.

Police further stated that the most cases of theft were from Henveiru district, where 22 cases were reported. Officers added that they noticed these cases did not come with a major plan and were mostly chances robbers took.