Maldives arrests ex-vice president and ‘assassin plot organiser’ Ahmed Adeeb after India denies entry
- He was detained on Thursday in the southern Indian city of Thoothukudi after arriving illegally by tugboat
- Adeeb was sentenced to 15 years in jail in 2016 for allegedly plotting to assassinate then-president Yameen
Maldives police on Saturday said they had arrested former vice-president Ahmed Adeeb and were bringing him to the capital Male after he was refused entry to India.
Adeeb, who was sentenced to 15 years in jail in 2016 for allegedly plotting to assassinate the Maldives’ then-president Abdulla Yameen, was detained early on Thursday in the southern Indian city of Thoothukudi after arriving illegally by tugboat.
“We would like to confirm that Ahmed Adeeb Abdul Ghafoor of H. Saamaraa has been arrested and is being transported to Male under our custody,” Maldives police tweeted.
An Indian port official in Thoothukudi said Adeeb had been sent back to the Maldives late on Friday on a boat escorted by a coastguard vessel.
Adeeb is expected to reach Indian Ocean island chain by Sunday or Monday, an official at the Maldives’ foreign ministry said.
Police officials in the Maldives and India’s foreign affairs ministry declined to comment. Adeeb, 37, was also convicted three years ago of corruption and terrorism and faced a total sentence of 33 years.
