Arrests not related to trees being cut down, says Police Commissioner

Commissioner of Police Hussain Waheed has said that several people were arrested on the night that the trees on Majeedee Magu were cut down, but those arrests were not related to this incident.

Hussain Waheed said this at a press conference at Iskandar Koshi today, regarding the allegations of police involvement in this incident.

He said that police carried out two operations on the same night, during which several people were arrested.

He however did not say if the people who were arrested were police officers.

He assured that the police would not release the people who were arrested on that night, if they are suspected of having being involved in cutting down the trees.

The Police Commissioner referred to the allegations by former President Mohamed Nasheed, who earlier named police officers involved in the incident, and said that the police would be diligent when dealing ‘acts to gain popularity’, and some form of action would be taken against people to try to discredit the police institution.