Policemen listed in political party registeries without their knowledge

Police have revealed that the names of a number of policemen have been included in the political party registries without their knowledge.

Police Media Official Hassan Haneef said today that they have come to realize that a number of policemen have been registered in political parties without their knowledge, and called on all political parties to refrain from such actions. It is not yet known whether Police have submitted the case to any authorities.

Haneef also adviced to checked if any policemen has been registered without their consent.

Commissioner of Police Abdulla Riyaz made a tweet today saying that the Assistant Commissioner of Police Ali Rasheed’s name was found to be listed on a political party's registry without his knowledge.

Artilce 69 (c) of the Police Act prohibits policemen from registering to political parties, being directly involved in political activities, and financially contributing to a such parties.

Police’s claims that they have been unknowingly registered in political parties comes at a time when certain parties have conducted vigorous campaigns to add members to their parties in the lead up to the ratification of the Political Parties Bill. The bill, which has now be come law, states that all parties with a membership count of less than 10,000 members shall be dissolved. Elections Commission has said yesterday that some of the party membership forms submitted to the commission for verification had a number of complications.