Alleged child sex predator wanted by police found in Kolamaafushi

A suspected child sex predator who had been on the run since 2021 has been arrested by police from GA. Kolamaafushi.

Mohamed Bishar Ismail, 41, G. Thaburuge, K. Male’, was arrested as a suspect in the sexual abuse of a child on January 19, 2020.

He was ordered to jail pending the outcome of his trial when presented before a court in the jurisdiction of the south police region (GA. Atoll, GDh. Atoll, Gn. Atoll, and S. Atoll). The trial was later transferred to the Criminal Court, which too, ordered to jail pending the outcome of his trial, on May 26, 2021.

However, Bishar filed a motion for a review of his detention, and was granted conditional release by the court.

The Prosecutor General’s Office appealed his release with the High Court, which supported the Criminal Court’s original decision to jail Bishar pending the outcome of his trial on December 23, 2021.

Police released Bishar’s picture and asked for the public’s assistance in locating him on Wednesday afternoon.

Police said that their efforts to find Bishar in order to arrest him and enforce the High Court’s order had been unsuccessful.

Police confirmed in a statement a little over an hour later they released Bishar’s picture that he had been arrested from Kolamaafushi.

Police said they were working on handing Bishar over to the custody of Maldives Correctional Service.