Police to use water with dye and irritant to break up protests

The police have said that they have plans to use a new method to break up violent protests this year.

Chief Inspector of Police Ahmed Shameem told Sun Online after a session held to provide information on the bill on peaceful assembly, that the police will add ‘dye’ and ‘irritant’ to the water used to break up protests.

Shameem said that irritant is a substance used in the water sprayed at protesters, and that it would cause irritation and itching of the skin. He said that the irritation would not disappear before the affected area is washed.

Shameem said that the police decided to use this method as the irritant water would force protesters to temporarily leave the area.

“It would force protesters to temporarily leave the area. The skin will continue to itch until it is washed,” he said.

Shameem said that dye will also be used, and that the purpose of using dye is to be able to identify the people who escape after causing damage to property during protests. He said that the colour will remain on the body for two or three days.

He said that the new substances are not harmful or dangerous in any way, and that such methods are often employed by developed countries to break up violent protests.

During the presentation by the police at the workshop held today to increase awareness on the bill on peaceful assembly, Shameem said that the police have discontinued using metal and wooden batons to break up protests, and that they now only use rubber batons.

Today’s workshop was organised by the Ministry of Home Affairs. Information was provided to participants from state institutions, political parties, NGOs and journalists by lawyer of Democracy House Mohamed Anil.

Only four out of the 16 existing political parties attended the workshop. The parties that were present were PPM, Adhaalath Party, Jumhooree Party, and Social Liberal Party.