The case regarding Abdulla Luthufee, the mastermind behind the 1988 coup d’état has been investigated and forwarded to the Prosecutor General’s office.

Speaking to press on Wednesday, Minister of Home Affairs Sheikh Imran Abdulla revealed that the fugitive’s case has been forwarded to the PG.

The minister was questioned by the People’s Majlis in July, regarding delays in extraditing Luthufee to Maldives, where he stated that authorities had been aware of his whereabouts in 2014 but that then-home minister Umar Naseer refused to approve his extradition as it was not deemed a priority.

The fugitive is currently doing time at Maafushi Prison after being extradited to Maldives in May, following him turning himself into the Maldives embassy in Colombo on May 1, after the neighboring country launched a nation-wide search following the Easter Sunday terror attacks. This was only revealed to the public on 24 June.

Luthufee- convicted and sentenced to life over the 1988 attempted coup that took the lives of 19 Maldivians- had been in hiding since being granted medical leave in 2010.

The attempted coup in capital city Malé on 3 November 1988 by a Sri Lankan militant group took the lives of 19 Maldivians. Due to Luthufee’s involvement, he was initially sentenced to death, which was reduced to life imprisonment by President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom.

While he was granted medical leave during former President and current Parliament Speaker Mohamed Nasheed’s administration, the former administration of Abdulla Yameen was observed to be negligent in the case as well.