Minister of Home Affairs Imran Abdulla has stated there are no officers working against the interests of the Maldives Police Service (MPS). He made the remarks in a written statement to the Parliament of the Maldives in response to questions regarding claims made by Attorney General Ibrahim Riffath, who told the Parliamentary Judiciary Committee that some officers are purposely using loopholes to work against the interests of MPS.
In the statement, Minister Imran expressed disapproval over the claim and said police officers are highly capable, educated, and diligent in their work. The minister noted that MPS conducted over 277 operations to confiscate alcohol in the past three years and submitted 266 of the cases to the Prosecutor General's Office (PGO). He also said the police service investigated over 1,467 drug-related cases in the past three years and that 48% of the cases in 2021 were submitted within a month to the Drug Court of the Maldives.
Furthermore, Minister Imran said no cases have been filed regarding any police officer purposely using loopholes to work against the interests of MPS but that there has been an issue regarding officers forgetting to file documents for the inventory after confiscating items in a recent drug case. He said statements have been taken from the officers after the PGO requested that the issue be investigated and that charges have been filed in the drug case, despite the loss of key evidence.
Home Minister Imran repeatedly refuted the claim that officers are using loopholes to work against the interests of MPS, and said action will be taken against any such officer.