Major reshuffle in police force again

In the latest re-shuffle of the police force, the head of police’s crime investigation department was replaced this month with Abdulla Nawaz, the assistant police chief who also sits on a commission investigating a blast on President Abdulla Yameen’s boat.

Hussain Adam, who previously headed the crime department, was transferred to the divisional operations command, which administers police stations in the atolls.

The former head of the divisional operations command, Ali Sujau, was meanwhile transferred to the training Institute for Security and Law Enforcement.

In October, officers in eight posts were shuffled soon after President Abdulla Yameen fired former police chief Hussain Waheed, and two of his deputies. The three were transferred to government ministries.

The police intelligence chief was also replaced then.

Their firing came after Yameen accused his Vice President Ahmed Adeeb of bribing the security forces using money siphoned from resort leases.

Assistant Police Commissioner Ahmed Areef was put in charge, and formally appointed to the post in December.

Ismail Ali, the police spokesman, said the new changes “are aimed at strengthening and making the police force more efficient.”

Questioning the frequency in turnover, Mohamed ‘MC’ Hameed, a former police chief, said: “It is not common practice to change directorate level positions this often and like this, normally such positions have fixed terms of one or two years.

He added: “These changes seem like they have been designed to ensure that a specific agenda is achieved.”

The police denied the claim.

In addition to the boat blast, the police are also investigating the embezzlement of some US$80million from resort leases.

The main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party has also claimed it has evidence of government involvement in terrorism financing, money laundering and extensive bribery. It had lodged the complaints with the police earlier this month.

Yameen has categorically denied his involvement saying the “the corruption stops at Ahmed Adeeb. Other ministers are not complicit in this. And the president was not aware of it.”

Adeeb is now standing trial for corruption and terror charges.