Maldives Police Service, on Monday, revealed they have collected “some information” required for the investigation onto the case challenging GDh. Thinadhoo’s city status citing the island’s population fell below the legal requirement of 10,000 people.
GDh. Gadhdhoo Council filed a case with the Police on February 11th, 2025, accusing Thinadhoo Council of providing false information to the relevant government authorities in order to gain city status.
Commenting regarding the case on Monday, the Police told Sun that it has held meetings with the Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO) on three separate occasions after reviewing documents received in the case, adding it was proceeding with the investigation under the guidance of the prosecution.
The Police noted that a team of officers traveled to Thinadhoo last April as part of the investigation during which they questioned and took statements from individuals relevant to the case.
Furthermore, the Police said it has received responses to letters send to some government authorities seeking information required for the investigation.
The Police added that it was in discussion with PGO regarding further matters that need to be attended to regarding the case.
Thinadhoo was designated as a city on August 30, 2023, by then-president Ibrahim Mohamed Solih during the 2023 presidential campaign. The incumbent administration decided it would not revise the decision.
The case stems from allegations that the Thinadhoo population list compiled by Thinadhoo Council, placing the island’s population at 10,150 people, was fraudulently boosted by various means, such as including the names of 115 deceased individuals.
Many discrepancies were noted from the population list maintained by the Thinadhoo Council and the Department of National Registration (DNR), with the latter declaring the population of Thinadhoo as less than 8,000.
Notably, former magistrate Ahmed Raghib lodged a constitutional case with the High Court in November of last year, citing Thinadhoo was designed a city in violation of laws: a petition which was rejected. Raghib had been serving as a deputy minister for environment at the time but was subsequently dismissed.
The issue of Thinadhoo’s city status has also been raised by North Thinadhoo MP Saudhulla Hilmy with the Local Government Authority (LGA) and the Parliament.