The police have refuted murder suspect Ismail Rasheed’s family’s claims that his confession was falsified.

Ahmed Shifan, spokesperson to the Maldives Police Service (MPS) said that all the claims made in a statement from the family are false.

He further asked that the public refrain from indulging in and spreading reports that alter perceptions of the truth or could hinder the police investigation.

Ismail Rasheed’s family said on Monday that the police had falsified his reported confession and Rasheed had not been actively involved in the murder.

The statement further said that the police had previously claimed that Rasheed had only been involved in the case to an extent that does not warrant a sentence for murder, and that officers had previously agreed to drop charges against him if he cooperated and divulged key information about the case to the police.