Police: Sri Lankan sniper was arrested for conspiracy to assassinate the President

Maldives Police Service has said that they arrested the Sri Lankan sniper for conspiring to assassinate the President Abdulla Yamin Abdul Gayoom.

Police issued a statement today saying that the 27-year-old Sri Lankan national was arrested on 24 October in the Maldives.

The statement said that the investigation revealed that the man was hired by a group of Maldivians to assassinate President Abdulla Yamin.

“Looking at the information received in this case so far, the investigation has learned that the Sri Lankan national was brought to Maldives with payments from a group of Maldivians. And the investigation has learned that the man was tasked to assassinate the Maldivian President using firearms.”

The Police statement did not say which individuals made the payment to the sniper.

Police said that the Criminal Court has extended the man’s remand by 15 days.

A number of people were arrested after the explosion on board the Presidential Launch on 28 September.

The National Inquiry Commission put out an alert to find some people for the investigation.

While a number of locations were being searched in the investigation, a large number of firearms were found on B. Hibalhidhoo, an uninhabited island lease to develop a resort.

Photos of the firearms that were found on the island were also found on the mobile phone of one of the people arrested in the investigation.