MNDF officer abducted off Male' street, beaten

An officer from the MNDF Coast Guard sustained multiple injuries on Thursday, after he was abducted from a street in Male' City and beaten by a group of masked assailants.

Hassan Fahmy, 38, arrived in Male’ City from Lh. Maafilaafushi on Wednesday.

A family member told Sun that Fahmy called a relative and asked to pick him up from Kalhuthukkalaa Koshi (KK) just after midnight.

“He picked up calls even after that but didn’t speak. He couldn’t be found near KK. And then his phone was switched off when we called at dawn,” she said.

The family heard from him on Thursday morning after his assailants threw him in front of the Indhira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) and fled. He shared some of the details of the incident with his family.

“He was cornered by a group of people and asked for money on his way somewhere from Kalhuthukkalaa Koshi. But he didn’t have any money on him and they took him to a room nearby,” said the family member.

The family said that Fahmy was hit in the head and lost consciousness before he was taken to the room, and didn’t regain consciousness until dawn.

He was severely beaten when he regained consciousness.

“I don’t think they were able to extort any money from him,” he said.

The family said Fahmy was attacked by a group of at least four people.

The family heard about the condition shortly before 07:00 am, after the hospital called Fahmy’s wife, whose number he gave as his emergency contact.

Fahmy had been scheduled to return to Maafilaafushi on Thursday.

A police spokesperson said a case involving f a Maldivian male taken to IGMH with injuries was reported to the agency at 09:55 am, and that the police were looking into the case.

Meanwhile, IGMH’s spokesperson said a 38-year-old male with injuries was being treated at the hospital’s ER.

The hospital declined to disclose details.