Masked men rob Western Union money transfer center at knife-point

Masked men entered Western Union money transfer center in Male’ during the early hours of Monday, robbing the place after tying up the staff and threatening them at knife-point.

The incident took place at around 12:45 am.

Eye witnesses reported that the robbers had entered the center pretending to be employees of telecom company – Dhiraagu.

“The Western Union money transfer office was locked. They claimed to be from Dhiraagu and asked them to unlock the door. As soon as the door was unlocked, they covered their faces and barged in,” said an eye witness.

Eye witnesses reported that the men had rushed into H. Thaalhafili with the stolen money.

They reported that it was not clear how many bags of money they took with them, but that one moneybag, along with some cash were found on the stairwell of H. Thaalhafili.

Some of the money that the robbers had been carrying in their pockets had also fallen on the ground as they rushed to flee.

“Those who found they money collected it from the streets and gave them to the police,” said the eye witness.

The team of police officers dispatched after the robbery was reported operated in the MU money transfer center as well as H. Thaalhafili.

The robbers had tied up four employees working at the center using clips.

A resident of H. Thaalhafili who spoke to “Sun” said that the group of masked men had initially fled into the building, but that it wasn’t clear how they then made their escape from the building.

Police have not yet been able to confirm the exact amount of money that was stolen.