Murder suspects hid out at local guest house before being arrested

The suspects arrested in connection to the murder of Mohamed Raaif, 13, hid out at a local guesthouse before being arrested by authorities, it has been revealed.

Raaif was reported as abducted on Sunday, and the police discovered his murdered body in the beach area of Hulhumale Phase II early Tuesday morning. Two suspects aged 27 and 17 have been arrested in connection to the murder.

It is believed that the two suspects came back to Male' and checked into a local guesthouse, H. Extra Haven Guest House following the murder. The small hotel is run by a Bangladeshi man married to a local woman.

According to the owners of the guest house, the police arrived at the guest house around 9:30 pm on Monday night. They showed the reception a picture of one of the suspects and asked if he was staying at the guest house. After the owners gave the affirmative that the man was indeed staying at the hotel, the owner went to their room 202 on the second floor and knocked on the door. However, there was no response. The owner then went downstairs and called the room from the reception and informed them that it was him knocking on their door, and requested to open the door. He did not mention the police were present in the building. However, they still refused to open the door.

At this point, the owners fetched the extra key from the reception and attempted to open the door. However, the door could not be opened as it was latched from the inside. The police waited for around half an hour for them to open the door before breaking it down. Pepper spray was immediately sprayed into the room upon entry.

The owner said the room was not booked by the two people inside the room, but by another person. Although he did not stay in the room for extended periods, he frequently entered and exited from the room and brought food items to the room. The people inside the room did not come out of the room at any point after checking in around 10:15 pm on Sunday night.

After they were arrested, both suspects were taken into police custody separately. Evidence bagged in paper bags was also taken into custody. It was past 3:30 in the morning when the suspects were taken away. The police are still active on the premises.

The owners are confident that the murdered boy had not been to the guest house. Therefore, it is strongly believed that he was not murdered inside the guest house.