No special security check for Maldivians in Sri Lanka, embassy says

Despite reports of an extensive security search of Maldivians who travelled to Sri Lankan capital Colombo on Saturday afternoon, the search had not been extraordinary, the top representative of Maldives in its closest neighbour said Sunday, the Haveeru news agency reported.

Maldives High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Zahiya Zareer said that there was no evidence to suggest that Maldivians had undergone a special security check at Colombo’s Bandaranaike International Airport.

However, Zahiya noted that as most Maldivians carry food items, the search had targeted cardboard boxes.

Foreign ministry on Twitter said the high commission was looking into the claims made by some of the aggrieved passengers.

The Maldivians who travelled from the Emirates Airline flight on Saturday afternoon had been held back at the airport for hours during the security check.

But the Sri Lankan authorities are yet to comment on why such an extensive search was carried out.

The claims of special security check comes after the murder of a Maldivian in Sri Lanka early this month.

Razeen, who is a notorious former gangster, was found dead with stab injuries in an abandoned paddy field near the Tumbovila Bridge in Piliyandala on November 5. Two suspects -- a Maldivian and his Sri Lankan accomplice -- have been taken into custody.

Sri Lankan authorities had said the thousands of Maldivians residing in Sri Lanka would be subject to closer scrutiny following the killing. 

-Agencies