Blackmail case: Accused released; case shelved
Before the videos were leaked, the men who had been with Alamgir was blackmailed and huge amounts of money were taken from them
By
Mohamed Muzayyin Nazim
All those arrested for allegedly recording videos of same-sex a Bangladeshi man having relationships with a large number of men and for blackmailing people using the videos, have been released and the case has now been filed as there is not enough evidence to prosecute them, police said on Tuesday.
Police arrested five people in September this year for taking businessmen, politicians and other men to an apartment in Maafannu, recording scenes of Bangladesh sex-worker MD Alamgir having physical relations with them and blackmailing them using these videos. The police revealed that only three of them were remanded in police custody at the time:
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Hamdhoon Abdulla, 37 - Akiri/B. Dharavandhoo
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Mohamed Mihad Mustafa, 24 - Hima/B. Dharavandhoo
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Maumoon Moosa, 41 - Siesta/B. Funadhoo
When asked about the lengthy investigation in the case, a police spokesperson told Atoll Times on Tuesday that the case has been filed on the advice of the Prosecutor General's Office.
"After discussing the case with the PG, the evidence obtained was not too heavy to warrant criminal prosecution and hence, since the PG office had recommended filing of the case, the accused were released [in November] and the case was filed," the spokesperson said.
The officer added that even if the case is filed, there is a "possibility of re-investigating the case" if the police get more information.
The PG office spokesman and public prosecutor Ahmed Shafeeu told Atoll Times last week that the police had issued the office seeking prosecution of all the five people arrested in the blackmail case. However, as there was not enough evidence to prosecute, the case was sent back to the police in September, he had said.
Hamdhoon, one of those arrested, is the man who claimed to be Alamgir’s "boss" in the statements he had given the investigators. The apartment seen in the videos was rented out by Hamdhoon.
Videos of Alamgir having same-sex relationships with Maldivians in a room started getting leaked to social media in mid-June this year. Thus:
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Similar videos of politicians, military personnel and still some others have gone viral
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Before the videos were leaked, the men who had been with Alamgir was blackmailed and huge amounts of money were taken from them
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Following the leak of the videos, the police told at a press conference on June 27 that they were treating the blackmail case as a separate case; they had identified who they were
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A case of blackmail was registered in March before the videos were leaked, police said
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Alamgir and several others who had same-sex relationship with him were convicted in the case
