Home Minister, CP meets Rilwan’s family

Home Minister Sheikh Imran Abdulla and senior officials from Maldives Police Service has paid a visit to the family of Ahmed Rilwan Abdulla, a prominent local journalist who was abducted and killed in 2014.

The visit, which took place this Wednesday, was attended on behalf of the police by Commissioner of Police, Mohamed Hameed (MC Hameed) and Assistant Commissioner of Police, Mohamed Riyaz.

The visit comes after years of concern by the family and members of the general public over the inadequacy of the police investigation into Rilwan’s disappearance.

The police, in a statement on Monday, apologized for the police work failing to meet the family’s expectations.

The police, while it has confirmed this Wednesday’s visit, has not disclosed the details of what was discussed during the visit.

The police have also announced that CP Hameed has formally requested the Parliament to arrange a meeting with its Security Services Committee regarding the findings of the presidential commission on investigation of murders and enforced disappearances on Rilwan’s abduction and murder.

The presidential commission, on Sunday, announced that it had evidence Rilwan was abducted from Hulhumale’ where he resided, forced into a car, put on board a dinghy boat, transferred to another vessel, and then murdered in the early hours of August 8, 2014.

It also announced that the Al-Qaeda branch in Maldives was responsible for both Rilwan’s abduction and murder.

The commission’s revelations marked the first official confirmation from a State source that Rilwan, who had been missing since August 8, 2014, had been murdered.

The commission’s draft report on the case has been shared with the Parliament, which in turn, has made it publicly available via its website.

The draft report reveals the police intel department received, but took no action on reports of plans to drown two people ahead of Rilwan’s abduction.

The commission has recommended that the heads of the intel department be held accountable for its inaction.

It also cites testimony from a secret witness who said that Rilwan, after he was forced ono a boat, was beheaded and thrown into the ocean.

Rilwan’s family, in a statement following the commission’s revelation, appealed for State officials who impeded the police investigation into Rilwan’s disappearance to be held accountable, and for charges against the suspects in the case to be expedited.