The remands of five out of six local men, who were arrested over a string of major burglaries and vandalism carried out across various islands, were extended by eight days while the other was released on Thursday.
The suspects aged 23, 24, 25, 28, 33 and 36 were arrested in an operation launched in Raa Atoll on June 23. Five were taken into custody from the island of Ungoofaaru, while the sixth was apprehended during raids on three places in Maduvvari connected to the suspects.
Police spokesperson disclosed that the court released the 28-year-old man when the suspects were presented for their remand hearing on Wednesday.
The court extended the remands of the others, authorising the police to detain them in a place determined by the Ministry of Home Affairs during the investigation.
Previously, the court remanded all six for a period of seven days.
In addition to Ungoofaaru and Maduvvari, the police also inspected an uninhabited island in Raa Atoll where the suspects had stayed at. Evidence related to the case were gathered from the scenes.
According to local reports, the suspects had banded together and stayed on the uninhabited island, from where they travelled to various inhabited islands and resorts to carry out preplanned major burglaries and acts of vandalism.
In addition to burglaries where the safes of government offices were stolen from some islands, there were also arson attacks carried out in a number of islands this year. The police had previously declared that they were acts of retaliation against authorities over the police's investigations into drug trafficking and religious extremism.
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