Police have assured the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) that a serious investigation was ongoing into the ruling People's National Congress (PNC)'s membership fraud scandal.
MDP legal team has submitted the cases of 96 party members whose personal data was stolen and whose signatures and fingerprints were forged to register them as members of PNC.
The main opposition party's spokesperson Anas Abdul Sattar told reporters outside the police station that the police assured a serious investigation was ongoing into the fake forms.
Anas added that the police expressed concern over the allegations against the Department of National Registration (DNR) when the MDP legal team appealed to the service to protect the national database.
"At today's meeting the police also noted that it affects not only the points we highlighted. [They said] it is a huge security breach of the passports too. So they gave us assurances and stressed the importance and sensitivity of the institution. They also shared that they were investigating this case as a serious matter," Anas said.
He further accused the ruling party of contravening laws to increase its membership to get more funding from the Elections Commission (EC).
MDP legal team's chief Mahfooz Saeed said police are taking statements from those who reported the fake forms and analyzing their fingerprints.
However, Mahfooz said the legal team could not get any updates about the cases submitted by MDP as the police did not obtain any case details.
"They assured that those cases would also be investigated. We want to tell those who filed complaints with the police through the party that the police will contact them. It is very important that they give statements and cooperate with the police in the investigation of the case," he said.
Mahfooz pointed out that the police had not questioned the PNC registrar and Villimale' MP Mohamed Ismail who had signed most of the fake forms as a witness and said the MDP had requested the police to take their statements soon.
MDP believes that more than 3,000 party members were registered as members of the PNC without their knowledge. Some of these cases have been reported to the EC and the police.
