Maldives Police Service (MPS) has revealed that they are facing obstacles in bringing Abdulla Luthufee back to Maldives as they are still working through the legal documents to bring him back.

Police revealed on Thursday that the legal procedure to bring him back is still incomplete at the relevant institutions in Sri Lanka, hence they are facing legal obstacles in bringing him back.

However, they expressed hope to bring him back as soon as the legal procedures are completed.

Police also revealed that a team of officers are currently active in the neighboring country to bring Luthufee back.

Luthufee was convicted and sentenced to life in prison over the 1988 attempted coup, but had been in hiding since being granted medical leave in 2010.

While he is to have turned himself in to the Maldivian embassy in Sri Lanka, on May 1, this was only revealed on June 24.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday, released a statement detailing the various obstacles being faced in the work to extradite Luthufee from the neighboring country. It noted that Maldives’ decision to leave the Commonwealth has led to concerns over the validity of the extradition agreement between both countries.