Seven former officers of the Maldives Police Service (MPS) Special Operations (SO) unit who were arrested under allegations of conspiring to overthrow the government, were remanded for five days on Sunday.

They are: Former SO commander Saif Hussain, station inspector Faiz Mohamed, former sergeant Abdulla Riyaz, corporals Ali Naseer, Hassan Naseer and Mohamed Shamin, as well as sergeant Ahmed Asim.

A total of 8 officers were arrested under allegations of conspiring to overthrow the government while another detained sergeant, Ali Rishwan was issued a remand of 10 days.

The officers were arrested during a 45-day long state of emergency and are charged for allegedly conspiring with opponents to overthrow the government and for misconduct against officers on duty.

According to sources, all of the detained officers have been relieved from duty.