A political crisis in the Maldives escalated on Saturday with the arrest of the vice-president on suspicion of links to an alleged plot to assassinate the country’s president, Abdulla Yameen.

Home affairs minister Umar Naseer said Ahmed Adeeb was arrested on a charge of high treason in connection with the blast on the presidential boat last month.

Adeeb, who had only assumed the vice presidency in July, is being held at a detention centre at an island near the capital Malé, the home minister added.

“VP Adheeb under arrest and held in Dhoonidhoo Detention,” Naseer said on Twitter, using a different spelling of the vice-president’s name. “Charges: high treason.”



Police also arrested three of Adeeb’s supporters on Saturday. Security has been tightened in the capital with police and soldiers in riot gear deployed on the streets.

Police spokesman Ismail Ali said Adeeb was arrested when he returned from an official visit to China.



Maldivian police confirmed that his detention was linked to the investigation into the 28 September blast on board Yameen’s speedboat.



“Vice-president Ahmed Adeeb has been arrested under a court warrant for the investigation into the explosion aboard the presidential speedboat,” Maldivian police said on Twitter and an official website.

The government said a bomb targeting Yameen was placed under his usual seat on the boat. The president escaped injury because he was not sitting there. The first lady and two aides were hurt.

Adeeb has denied that he was linked to the explosion.

Yameen appointed Adeeb as his deputy three months ago after impeaching his original running mate, Mohamed Jameel, on charges of treason.

Hours before Adeeb’s arrest on Saturday the president sacked his police chief, Hussain Waheed, the latest in a series of firings seen by some as a purge of individuals whose loyalties may be in doubt.



Defence minister Moosa Ali Jaleel was sacked 10 days ago, while on Thursday Yameen also fired his main government spokesman, Mohamed Shareef, a minister in his government.

Shareef, who flew to nearby Sri Lanka soon after the 28 September blast, said the explosion may have been a mechanical issue, but the authorities later declared it to be an assassination attempt and launched a criminal investigation.

Maldivian authorities have also arrested two security personnel who had access to Yameen’s boat but have yet to disclose what caused the explosion.

The Maldives’ image as a peaceful holiday destination has been tarnished by political turmoil since the toppling of the country’s first democratically elected leader, Mohamed Nasheed, in February 2012.

Yameen, who came to power following a highly controversial election, jailed Nasheed for 13 years in March and faces international censure over his crackdown on dissent.