Ministry of Home Affairs is to conduct a "thorough" search in the remand unit of Maafushi Prison, following the scuffle that led to the revelation of torture and mistreatment of inmates.

In a statement released on Sunday, the ministry said that there has been difficulty in ensuring the stability of the prison as the incident “has made the inmates restless.”

Hence, the home ministry is to conduct a search in the remand unit -Unit 4- especially as the CCTV cameras in the area “have been damaged.”

Following reports of the commotion at the prison, two parliament committees held emergency meeting and summoned officials of the relevant institutions. While the home minister, director of prisons and commissioner of prisons were summoned, only Commissioner Abdulla Munaz was able to attend Saturday night’s committee meeting.

There, he said that inmates have been smuggling “illegal things” to the prison, but opted to disclose the details during the second part of the meeting which was held behind closed doors.

The search operation is to be conducted in the presence of the commissioner of prisons and deputy, as well as the inspector of correctional service. The ministry said that both audio and video records will be taken during the search.

Furthermore, the Human Rights Commission of Maldives (HRCM) has been invited to monitor the operation as well.

The statement further reads that the operation will be conducted “as per laws and regulations” and that force will be used if necessary, and “at the lowest level.”

The ministry added that its policy is to be transparent in the investigation into the prison brawl, and asked to refrain from spreading false information.