A trip to Male turned malevolent, kidnapped and robbed

Ghaazee School teacher making provisions to depart to India for the treatment of a heart condition, tells the story of his short trip to Male’ending in a malevolent experience.

The teacher shared the unfortunate incident with TMJ with the condition of not identifying him by name.

The teacher said that it began when he decided to help someone who asked for it when he was driving his motorcycle on Majeedhee Magu. A man raised his hand and when the teacher stopped, the man asked him to drop him off at Chaandhanee Magu. The teacher said that he stopped on the corner of Chaandhanee Magu and the man asked him to turn into Chaandhanee Magu since he was carrying a heavy box.

The teacher said that he drove the man as far as he requested but when he finally got off, he asked him to help carry the box inside. So he agreed and held one side of the box, which really was very heavy. Both men then entered a narrow alley. The teacher told TMJ that that was when he was ambushed, his face covered, and dragged into someplace secluded.

The people who ambushed the teacher told him that they had no intention of physically harming him, and that they just wanted MVR 5,000 from him. He told the muggers that he had no money. They asked him to give them his phone, and unlock it and the teacher said that he did as asked. He even logged into his internet banking when they asked.

The teacher told TMJ that he had MVR 375 or MVR385 in his current account and just the deposit amount in his savings account. He gave them his wallet and they found MVR 490 in his wallet.

The teacher recounted that when the muggers transferred the savings deposit to his current account, he had MVR 500 in his current account which gave them around MVR 900 with the wallet money. However, they continued to demand more money from him and when the teacher had responded that he had just paid the utility bills that morning they checked MWSC and STELCO apps to verify it.

The teacher told the muggers that he was unwell and was attempting to go to India for an operation and they verified this with the documents on his phone as well but they told him that they will not let him go until they got what they wanted.

The teacher told while describing the fearful surroundings that there was another man in a chair sitting faced away from him but he didnt know who he was or if he was bound.

At that point, the teacher said that he received a call from his brother. At the brink of tears, panicked, he asked his brother to send him MVR 2000 urgently and could not tell him why despite his brother’s questioning before the call was disconnected.

The teacher told TMJ that because he was teary-eyed when the call ended, the muggers told him he had no reason to cry because they were not assaulting him. He told them that he was a heart patient and he cannot contain himself in such a dire situation. He said that the muggers took the money from his wallet and his account when his brother transferred the money and then let him go.

The teacher said that the people who held him hostage and robbed him wore face covers so that they remained unidentifiable. He said that he has now filed a complaint with the police.

Cases of muggings and robberies that involve taking hostages to clear out their wallets and accounts in the greater Male’area have been recurrent as of late. More often than not, these cases go unsolved or the perpetrators released without punishment and has been a notion of public outrage.