Virgo 9

MADURAI: Former Maldives vice-president Ahmed Adheeb Abdul Ghafoor on Thursday reached India via sea route and was being questioned by central agencies off the coast of Tamil Nadu, police sources said.Officials were yet to give permission for a tugboat with a barge -- onboard of which Adheeb had travelled to India -- to dock at the Tuticorin Old Port.The former vice-president travelled on the tugboat — Virgo 9 — that was returning after unloading gravel in the Maldives. (A tugboat is used for pulling or pushing another vessel.)There were nine crew members onboard the tugboat when it left for the Maldives on July 11. The crew included an Indian named Bosco and eight Indonesians.The Singapore-registered tugboat started its return journey on July 27 with 10 people onboard. “The Indian crew member told the tugboat’s agent about the new man onboard,” a senior police officer said.On being alerted by the agent, officials from the customs, the Coast Guard and intelligence agencies boarded it and quizzed Ahmed Adeeb , 37, who was the vice-president of the Maldives from July 22 to November 5, 2015.Sources said investigations were underway with Adeeb and those onboard the tugboat on how he had managed to board it, who had helped him and where he was going. The tugboat was anchored a few nautical miles off the Tuticorin port , officials said.Stating that Adeeb’s bid to enter India was an issue of international concern and would affect ties between India and the Maldives, they added that a probe was on to find out if he had a visa and the required clearance from the Maldives, which is unlikely as he faces serious charges there.Adeeb was sacked and arrested for allegedly trying to assassinate the then Maldives president Abdulla Yameen by blowing his speedboat in September 2015. A court convicted him and sentenced him to 15 years in jail in 2016. However, in May 2019, the sentence was quashed.In June this year, Adeeb was treated at a hospital in Pune for an eye problem. The reason for his bid to enter India was not clear.Officials said they would either send him to the Maldives or act in consultation with the Maldivian government.