Police: Interpol yellow notice issued for Thasleem; some notices not visible to public

Maldives Police Service, on Sunday, said an Interpol yellow notice has been issued for Thasleem Mohamed – who went missing in August – on September 12^th.

Thasleem Mohamed, 43, M. Asaree Handhaan, K. Male’, had gone to a sandbank located to the south of Huvafen Fushi, a resort in K. Atoll on August 29. He was reported missing to the police at around 01:20 pm on August 30.

Police, in September, revealed that had applied for an Interpol yellow notice as part of efforts to locate Thasleem. Many have raised concern over the lack of such a notice for Thasleem on Interpol’s official website despite days following the announcement by the Police.

Interpol yellow notice is a global police alert to help locate missing persons.

In a message to the media on Sunday, Police said an Interpol yellow notice for Thasleem was published on September 12^th – explaining that all Interpol notices that are published are visible to all member countries, however, some of them are not made publicly available on Interpol's website.

The police said that Thasleem departed for the sandbank with a group of 25 other people, including two children, on a speedboat from the southern harbor of Male’ City between 05:00 pm and 05:30 pm on August 29.

The trip was organized to celebrate a birthday and an engagement. The police found that Thasleem was friends with the trip’s organizers, and went there to make the backdrop and do lighting and electrical works.

There was also another group of 12 people there at the sandbank.

He was last seen between 07:45 am and 09:00 am on August 30.

Those who traveled with Thasleem told the Police that he had told them he wished to return to Male’. They discovered him missing when they looked for him to tell him to get on a speedboat back to Male’, which departed for the capital between 10:00 am and 11:00 am that day. They then contacted his family to check if he had returned to Male’ on another boat.

They began searching for him when his family said he had not returned.

Police said they have questioned the people Thasleem traveled with, as well as the other group that was at the sandbank at the time. Updates are being shared with the family, added the Police.