The Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF) on Sunday denied any discussions to carry out psychological profiling of new officers at an Indian national forensic university.
Citing senior officials from the National Forensic Science University (NSFU) in Gujarat, the Ahmadabad Mirror reported that psychological assessments of officers recruited for Maldivian "security and law enforcement agencies" were conducted at the university.
After it was reported in local media, MNDF denied the claim and told the media today that no such discussion about psychological profiling has taken place.
NFSU Campus director Shankarrao Chunar told the Mirror that the profiles were done at the request of the Maldivian government by the university's School of Behavioral Forensics and that officers were recruited based on the profiles for the security forces and law enforcement agencies.
But it was unclear whether he was referring to the Maldivian police or the army. The police have yet to comment on the matter.
Psychological profiling is done to assess the psychological state of recruits and to identify personality traits that make them susceptible to influence.
The newspaper reported that the Maldives requested the psychological profiling of 187 officers. It was done under an MoU signed between the Maldives government and the university.
NSFU's Vishal Parmar, who carried out the psychological profiling of 187 officers, told the newspaper that polygraph machines and other technologies for psychological screening were used for the profiling.
“They were profiled for human intelligence, the standard of moral values, past criminal records, and were analysed for future threats and behavior,” he said.
While the government has maintained close security ties with India, the opposition alleges that India has been exerting influence over Maldivian affairs.
While the opposition carried out activities in the name of "India Out" against stationing Indian soldiers in the Maldives, the use of the slogan was banned by a presidential decree.
