Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM) presidential primary candidate Umar Naseer has claimed he has “received information” of an attempt to plant drugs in one of his offices.
A post made under Umar’s name on his Facebook and Twitter pages stated he had received “intel” that an attempt would be made to discredit his name by planting contraband in one of his offices.
Umar Naseer is the Managing Director of both Whale Submarine and and Alarms Pvt Limited. One of building in which the Whale Submarine office is located caught fire on Saturday (March 9).
Despite the posts on social media, a source familiar with the matter told Minivan News on Tuesday (March 13) that police had already searched through the Umar’s offices looking for contraband.
“After Home Minister [Dr Mohamed] Jameel [Ahmed] joined Umar’s competitor [Abdulla] Yameen in his campaign meeting, police turned up at Umar’s offices with a search warrant allegedly looking for alcohol,” the source claimed. “It is an intimidation tactic I think.”
Police Spokesperson Chief Inspector Hassan Haneef denied that police had searched the offices of the PPM presidential helpful.
Both Umar Naseer and Abdulla Yameen are currently campaigning to win the PPM’s presidential candidate slot for the upcoming presidential elections to be held in September this year.
Umar Naseer’s secretary, when contacted by Minivan News, said that Umar was unable to comment on the matter as he was away on a campaign trip.
Asked whether she was aware of any office searches by police, the secretary stated: “I am in no position to answer that. I will get back to you.”
Minivan News was awaiting a response at time of press.
On Saturday (March 9), local media reported that a fire had broken out at a Sakeena Manzil property in Male’ – a building also used by Umar Nazeer’s ‘Whale Submarine’ company.
Soon after the flames had been extinguished by Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) firemen, local media reported that the MNDF equipped two well-known PPM activists with gas masks and oxygen tanks, who then entered the building.
According to a report in Sun Online, the two PPM activists went inside the building to retrieve some “very important objects”, but it had not been elaborated as to what these objects might have been.
MNDF Spokesperson Colonel Abdul Raheem denied reports made by local media, stating: “The fire chief told me they did not allow any civilian to enter the building or tamper with fire equipment.
“Once the area was deemed safe however, members of the public were allowed back into the building with the guidance of police,” Raheem told Minivan News.
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