Maldives Police Service on Sunday, revealed the identities of the three culprits behind the gruesome murder of social media activist and blogger Yameen Rasheed.
Police made a statement disclosing the names of the individuals suspected of taking part in the murder of Yameen Rasheed. The three men are; Ismail Rasheed, 25, Ismail Haisham Rasheed, 21, and Ahmed Zihan Ismail, 22, all from the capital city Male.
According to Police, suspects Ismail Rasheed and Ismail Haisham Rasheed both have criminal records. Ismail Haisham Rasheed was convicted of mugging, while Ismail Rasheed has a record of affiliating with a known gang.
A total of six suspects have been arrested in relation to the murder. However, police have not disclosed information on the remaining four suspects.
Police highlighted that they analysed over 1,850 hours of surveillance footage collected from security cameras all across the capital city Malé. Furthermore, police added they also analysed over 40,000 photographs of people aged 20-40 in search of the culprits.
Police had sought expert advice and assistance, and checked the information databases of several government institutions during the probe into the matter.
Police also noted that they faced obstruction in their investigation from various parties, stating that unrelated individuals had been sharing their own "conspiracy theories" on social media.
However, the police assured that such obstructions will not stop their efforts, and that it has used all available resources and taken necessary steps to find and bring the perpetrators to justice.
Last month, the police had arrested a lawyer claiming that he was "obstructing the investigation" of the slain blogger; however the lawyer was later transferred to house arrest.
The police earlier declared that they had all key individuals involved in the gruesome slaying of blogger Yameen Rasheed in custody, and that they built a solid case with enough evidence to prosecute the alleged assassins.
Yameen was murdered over a month ago, and Maldives' large social media community was shaken by the brutality of what had happened.
According to Yameen’s family, he was stabbed over 16 times in the neck, head and the face at around 3am in his own home’s stairwell.
Many of his friends and well-wishers regularly gathered at Artificial Beach in Male to show solidarity.
The police already had a total of eight people in custody in connection to the case in mid-May.
They also slapped travel bans on several other people who are believed to be connected to the gruesome murder of the blogger.
Further, they had also sent forensic evidence abroad to be analysed by foreign experts. This move came after the victim’s family had urged the police and the government to seek foreign aid in the investigation.
The police identified suspects involved in the murder through a series of CCTV footage and had officially announced a manhunt.
