ACC investigators described by Thinadhoo Council as ‘looters’ after raid

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) raided the Thinadhoo City Council office as part of an ongoing criminal investigation on Sunday – a move that the council described as a “looting.”

The Thinadhoo City Council, in a post on its official Facebook account, announced on Monday morning that “a large quantity of the Thinadhoo City Council’s assets has been stolen by a group of people who came here claiming to be from the ACC.”

The city’s mayor, Saud Ali told Sun that the council had been cooperating with the ACC in its investigation, but that three individuals claiming to be from the ACC came to the council to clarify some information despite the council having notified the commission in writing that they would provide the information at 02:30 pm the next day.

He alleged that they had deliberately picked a time when he was out of the city.

Saud said that the trio had “fled with stolen documents”.

He also accused North Thinadhoo MP Saudhulla Hilmy of being behind it.

“We also informed the police to expel the three individuals from the office. But they remained at the office and then fled after looting the office once the employees had left,” he said.

Saud said that the incident has resulted in disruption of the council’s services.

The police confirmed receiving a report on Monday regarding a suspected case of theft at the council.

“Based on the findings so far, it is unlikely that such an incident happened,” said the police, adding that they were looking into it.

The ACC was not immediately available for comment regarding the incident.

However, the commission has been investigating Saud for alleged corruption in the award of a contract to build a monument at the city’s harbor.