Monday Oct 19, 2009
A man who had been charged and sentenced for a drug conviction and another man who was detained for various offences by the Police has been arrested in connection to the three thefts in Malé.

At a press conference held at the Police Headquarters, the Head of the General Investigations Unit Inspector Mohamed Jamsheed said that the two they had arrested in connection to three thefts in Malé last Monday were Mohamed Muaz, 31, of Ranfaru in Thaa atoll Guraidhoo, and Shafeeullah Abdul Waheed, 23, of Haa Alifu atoll Hoarafushi. Muaz has already been convicted on a drug offence and sentenced to six years in jail, while Shafeeullah has been arrested by the Police five times on various offenses.

Jamsheed said the thieves had first snatched a bag of money from an expatriate who was on the way to make a deposit at the State Bank of India. Later the same day, around 12:00pm, the thieves had snatched another bag of money from a man on a bicycle who was riding down Fareedhee Magu. Half an hour later the thieves had struck again, this time robbing a man who was taking money from the Baa atoll Fihaara to the Audit Office. Police did not reveal details about how much money had been stolen during each theft.

Police said one of the two thieves had been charged with stealing the money from the Baa atoll Fihaara staff. Police had found a large sum of money in his possession when they arrested him, Police said. The other thief had also been arrested during previously. Police said that so far they had only managed to recover Rf50,000, about half of the stolen money, from the two suspects.

Source: Haveeru