Police have faced criticism after Spokesperson Ahmed Shifan responded to an Adhadhu report about a network of thieves in Male' by blaming it on the previous government's release of a large number of convicts 10 months ago.
After sharing Adhadhu's report titled "A network of thieves in Male', no way to stop them!" published on Wednesday, Shifan said on social media that the police accepted it as "an unfortunate truth."
Shifan said the cause of it was the presence in the community of about 434 convicts released from jail 10 months ago.
"With a large population of 434, released from the MCS [Maldives Correctional Service] before 10 months and a lack of return on investment over time, we are in a serious crisis," Shifan wrote.
Some of the people who replied to Shifan's post on X called it a "meaningless excuse." Others questioned how long the "previous government" would be cited as an excuse.
"It's no good to talk about what happened before! If you don't know the solution, is there any need of taking the big pay?" a handle under the name of Shareef wrote in reply to Shifan.
A person named Mohamed Shareef who responded to Shifan's post said it was " very upsetting" that there was no accountability or taking of responsibility.
Another person asked about the number of released convicts who have been arrested.
A person who replied to Shifan's post under the name of Ismail Adam said that police could stop the network of thieves if it wanted to. Police were "lazy people under the influence of politics," he alleged.
In a post on X responding to Shifan, former Defence Minister Mariya Ahmed Didi said that research about recidivists does not show that there was a period before they committed crimes.
She called on the government to disclose the number of convicts released after it came to power.
"I call for the disclosure of the number of people released by the government for the Majlis elections and after the new government [of President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu] came," Mariya wrote.
