In a press conference on July 24, to deliver the updates on the investigation on the May 6, 2021, Male bombing (targeting Mohamed Nasheed), Assistant Commissioner of Police Mohamed Riyaz said that “the findings from our investigation do show that the suspects do follow the ideologies maintained by IS [Islamic State], and even has actively taken part in spreading this ideology. They also wish to present themselves as people who aid IS”. He, however, added that there are no solid grounds for the Police to believe that the suspects have a direct connection to Islamic State or any other international groups. Riyaz also stated that suspects believed that government-provided salary was haram, but had requested for income support allowance issued by the government.
Assistant Commissioner of Police Mohamed Riyaz said that there is no evidence directly linking the May 16, 2021, Male bombing incident (targeting Mohamed Nasheed) with an alleged assassination plot reported to Defense Minister Mariya Ahmed Didi prior to the attack, reports Sun Online. “We have received no evidence to directly link the information Ilyas Labeeb received with the actions of the suspects who staged this attack,” he said. He further said there is no evidence to suggest the suspects carried out the attack in exchange for money. Riyaz also said Nasheed has yet to provide a statement to the police. He said that investigators attempted to get information from Nasheed when he had been in Male, but he declined to comment given it had been the initial stages of the investigation. Riyaz further said it was not the first time for Nasheed to become a target for improvised explosive device (IED) attack. Nasheed’s family and supporters believe Defense Minister Didi to be criminally liable for failure to report the information to the police, and have demanded her resignation.