Expatriate workers at work in a construction site. PHOTO: NISHAN ALI/MIHAARU
Police have rescued a Bangladeshi national that was kidnapped in the capital Male last week and arrested two other Bangladeshi men in connection with the crime.
Maldives Police Service revealed Wednesday that the kidnapping was reported on Monday last week, but did not disclose further details as the investigation is ongoing.
The case was reported to the police by a senior official of a resort, Mohamed Azeez. He told Mihaaru that the kidnapping was brought to his attention by a young employee, who is the son of the kidnapped victim.
“He came to me, crying that his father had been kidnapped by a group and that he hadn’t heard from his father since. He said he’d been trying to negotiate with the perpetrators since [Monday] afternoon,” Azeez narrated.
Azeez said that had contacted the kidnappers himself but they had told him that the kidnapped man, called Haroon, had been released. However, Azeez was unable to reach Haroon’s mobile phone and had reported to the police.
Azeez said that the police had initially said that they could not launch an investigation without further information. He had contacted local telecom firm Dhiraagu to find the identity and address of the kidnapper via his registered contact number.
“He was renting a room in Male; that’s where they were keeping Haroon locked up.”
Azeez stated that with the new information, they had received great cooperation from the police. However, the kidnappers had changed location by the time the police arrived and they were finally caught only this Tuesday night.
Police had found them in another rented room in Male. They rescued Haroon and arrested two Bangladeshi nationals involved in the kidnapping.
According to Azeez, Haroon had taken a loan from the perpetrators to come to the Maldives seven years ago. He had struck a verbal agreement with the loaner to pay back his debt after selling a part of his property back in Bangladesh. Haroon had been preparing to return to Bangladesh to uphold his part of the agreement when he was kidnapped. Mihaaru understands that Haroon was kidnapped for refusing to register his property under the loaner’s name.
Following the rescue, Azeez has provided Haroon with a safe place to stay. However, he said that Haroon and his son have been receiving calls from several numbers, threatening them to withdraw the police case.
Full details are available at the link below:
