Police open criminal probe into ‘suspicious’ missing man case

The police have opened a criminal investigation into the disappearance of a man who went missing last weekend after travelling to a sandbank with his friends.

Thasleem Mohamed, 43, M. Asaree Handhaan, K. Male’, was reported missing to the police by his family at 01:00 pm on Friday.

A family member told Sun that he had gone with his friends to a sandbank located to the south of Huvafen Fushi, a resort located in K. Atoll, on Friday morning.

He went missing at the sandbank.

A police spokesperson said on Monday that the police find the circumstances surrounding his disappearance suspicious, and have therefore opened a criminal investigation into the case.

“And efforts to search for him continue nonstop,” added the spokesperson.

A family member who talked to Sun said that desperate searches by his friends on Friday came up empty.

“The friends who went with him could not find him despite searching. It is not even clear if he went missing in the waters,” said the family member on Saturday.

The Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF)’s Coast Guard has searched over a 5,000-square-feet area around the sandbank via snorkeling, and over a 3,000-square-feet area by diving.

Male’-born Thasleem had been living in Hulhumale’ Phase I. He is an employee of the Male' City Council.