Concern over remand extension without access to lawyers and which court they will be taken to

Lawyers have expressed concern regarding remand extension of the dollar thieves, with the alleged thieves not being given access to lawyers and without lawyers being notified as to which court the alleged thieves will be taken to.

The dollar thieves had stolen USD 130,000 (more than MVR 2 million) from BML employees at Velana International Airport early yesterday morning. Those who were arrested yesterday afternoon had their remand extended by five days after they had been taken to a Magistrate Court in an island in Kaafu Atoll.

The thieves had been taken to K. Himmafushi's police station after being apprehended, prior to being taken to court. From the police station, they were put into custody at Dhoonidhoo Detention Center.

A lawyer of one of those who were arrested said that the form to appoint lawyers had been submitted last night. The lawyer also said that they had informed the case investigation officer regarding the form.

However, the lawyer said the form had not been processed up to the point when the thieves had been taken to court where their remand had been extended.

"I had not received the arrest warrant and I was not told which court they would be taken to either. They had been taken to court and had their remand extended without a lawyer present. I found out about the five-day remand from the news," said the lawyer.

There has been no word from the police regarding this matter.

It can be concluded that while the lawyer still had not received the court's remand order, a five-day remand was ruled due to a lawyer not being present.

The arrested individuals in the dollar theft are:

As per a source from Huraa who had spoken to Mihaaru News, the masked robbers stole the money from the BML employees from Terminal 1, with them taking a 12 seater speedboat to Huraa yesterday morning around 8:45 am. It is unclear as to where they had gone right after they left the airport.

A source from Huraa stated that while people had not seen the suspects carrying a suitcase in the island, a CCTV camera from the guesthouse the suspects were staying in had captured them handling the dollars. The resident said that the amount of dollars was not a lot.

A source familiar with the investigation said that bottles of alcohol had also been recovered, but it is unclear whether the stolen money had been found.

The two suspects from Guraidhoo have a brother living in Huraa with them making frequent visits to the island, as per the source.

The robbers had reportedly got to the terminal via a car. The suspects fled using a speedboat docked at the VIA jetty, according to a source.

Another source shared that as they fled with the suitcase, the thieves had sprayed a substance in the faces of Aviation Security Command Officers at the scene and threatened them with knives, as well.