Immigration yesterday said that Arfath was found to be residing illegally in the Maldives, and the summon was issued following a report accusing him of killing cats and using their meat in food preparation.
Police have detained an expatriate man, Arfath Hossain, 32, from Bangladesh, who is alleged to have killed cats in the Malé area and used their meat to prepare food products.
The arrest follows a notice to appear issued by Maldives Immigration after allegations against him surfaced on social media.
Immigration Controller Mohamed Shamaan Waheed in a post on social media platform X said that Arfath had been located.
The man in question is in police custody.
Immigration yesterday said that Arfath was found to be residing illegally in the Maldives, and the summon was issued following a report accusing him of killing cats and using their meat in food preparation.
Videos on social media show a local questioning Arfath at the parking zone in front of Marry Brown, near Boduthakurufaanu Magu. In the video, when questioned why he is in the parking lot with plastic bags, he said that he uses them to take cats home.
The individual who published the video also showed clips from outside Arfath's residence, and said neighbours have reported seeing body parts of cats in the vicinity.
"And they have heard cat cries. Entering here [the lane in which Arfat's house is located], you can see it has been made to prepare food. The ventilation pipe that goes up is fixed to the expatriate's house," the narrator of the video said.
Part of the video showed a point of view entering the narrow lane in which Arfath's residence is located, and a ventilation pipe attached to one of the houses.
The video also mentioned that Arfath previously made burgers and submarines with a logo written in English, which was shown in the video. However, the products no longer carry this logo.