Six suspects of organized theft and sabotage in Raa atoll, remanded

Six individuals arrested within the past two days as part of an operation prompted by the case of a number of organized theft and damage to property in inhabited islands and resorts, have been remanded.

Arrested under suspicion of the organized theft and sabotage are a 23-year old, 24-year old, 25-year old, 33-year old, 36-year old, and a 28-year old individual.

Five of them were arrested on Tuesday throughout a special operation launched in order to seek out those supporting and spreading extremist ideologies.

The sixth arrest was made on Wednesday, revealed police.

All the arrests were made under a court order from Ungoofaaru island and Maduvvari island of Raa atoll and Maldives Police Service (MPS) revealed that they had searched three locations in Maduvvari in connection to the arrests.

The group was living in an uninhabited island in the same atoll, which was also raided by the police and officers confiscated a number of items they found to be related to the case.

All six, Maldivian men, were remanded by seven days, at a facility to be decided by the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Police received reports of a group of individuals residing in an uninhabited island in Raa atoll and making frequent and unauthorized trips to nearby islands and resorts to inflict damage on property as well as carry out thefts. This comes at a time unauthorized travel between inhabited islands has been banned due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which has provoked a State of Public Health Emergency as well.

The case is under further investigation.

Six arrests were made under an extremist crackdown on December 18, 2019, the operation was prompted by the case of a 13-year-old child bride having given birth in the island after being raped and impregnated by a man, Ismail Hammaadh and. Officers also discovered another pregnant 13-year-old child bride and took her under the protection of authorities, also having arrested the parents of the previously-discovered child bride.

Maduvvari is deemed to have a large community supporting extremism, recruiting individuals to terrorist organizations as well as obstructing the rights of children and women that separates itself from the society by supporting extremist ideologies, expressing interest in joining foreign conflicts and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, neglecting their children medical rights such as vaccination as well as keeping their women locked up and imprisoned at home