Former Vice President Ahmed Adeeb has alleged Major General Ahmed Shiyam, Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF)’s Chief of Defense Force to be behind the cache of weapons discovered in Hibalhidhoo island’s lagoon in Baa atoll and the explosion aboard the Presidential speedboat in 2015.

In a statement released through his legal representative on Wednesday, Adeeb stated that General Shiyam was behind the assassination attempt against the President, the cache of weapons as well as the discovery of explosives on the streets of the capital city Male’.

The former VP revealed after he was arrested following the explosion aboard Presidential speedboat ‘Finifenmaa’ in September 2015, General Shiyam had with the help of others, had taken a stash of rusty weapons from the MNDF’s armory and submerged them in bags after which they had informed the Maldives Police Service of the matter.

Following the tip-off, search operations began in the island, and following an intelligence report suggesting to search the lagoon, police had conducted a search and discovered black bags stacked with pistols, bullet, explosives and detonation devices, about 45 meters under.

According to Adeeb, a “fake” explosive was placed near Muleeaage, after which a nation-wide State of Emergency was declared.

RaajjeMV had contacted spokesperson at the President’s office, Ibrahim Muaz Ali for a comment on the matter to which he had responded that he did not wish to comment. RaajjeMV was unable to attain a comment from the accused, General Shiyam, or the MNDF at the time of publishing.

Alongside Adeeb, three soldiers who were explosives experts and Colonel Ahmed 'Papa' Fayaz, leader of the Special Protection Group (SPG) were also arrested regarding the explosion onboard the Presidential speedboat. The assassination attempt provoked raids on government offices as well as the apartments of individuals associated with Adeeb. As such, Abdulla Ziyath’s house, the managing director of Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC), was raided in early October 2015 and prominent businessman Hamid Ismail’s house was also raided.