Maldives Police Service revealed, on Thursday, that a total of 2,710 instances of serious crime was reported within the first 10 months of 2020.
Speaking at a press conference, Head of Police General Investigation Department, Chief Inspector of Police Ali Faiz stated that the most frequently reported crime within the 10 months was theft and robbery.
According to him, authorities recovered a notable number of stolen funds, including over MVR 600,000 generated from scam calls and MVR 300,000 stolen in muggings.
“A total of goods worth MVR 2.9 million were recovered and returned to their owners in volume crime cases alone”, Faiz said.
He stated that the number of robberies decreased during the lockdown period but increased as the state began easing restrictions.
According to Faiz, suspects from the crime scene are usually perpetrators that have been involved in similar crimes in the past, including drug related issues, inmates released on parole and people forced to homelessness due to the ongoing pandemic.