The Vice President of the Maldives, Ahmed Adeeb, has been arrested in connection with an alleged plot to assassinate President Abdulla Yameen.
The Home Minister, Umar Naseer, said on twitter that the Vice President is in detention and is being charged with high treason.
President Yameen was unhurt in the September 28 blast in his presidential boat, Finifenmaa while he was returning from Saudi Arabia after the hajj pilgrimage.
“We have arrested the Vice President in relation to the Finifenmaa incident,” a police media official told Reuters.
“He is now in police custody in Dhoonidhoo detention centre.”
President Yameen’s election has been the subject of drawn-out wrangling and in recent years, the Maldives has been rocked by political infighting.
The Maldivian newspaper, Haveeru, had said that security has been tightened in the capital, Male amid fears of “turmoil” triggered by the arrest.
“By early morning on Saturday, lorries loaded with policemen and soldiers were seen on nearly every street,” it reports.
Three others were also arrested on Saturday including a former member of Adeeb’s security detail and a member of the Army’s bomb squad.
The Maldives Independent website said Mr Adeeb’s arrest had “surprised and enthralled many Maldivians”.
