Ex-official in India embassy arson call released

A former top government official arrested in connection with a call to set the Indian embassy in Maldives on fire was released on Friday.

Former President Mohamed Waheed's spokesman Abbas Adil Riza was arrested in late December and remanded.

A police spokesperson told Atoll Times that the court granted a conditional release to Riza on Friday.

"The investigation will continue," he said. 

Defence minister Mariya Ahmed Didi and police commissioner Mohamed Hameed warned that calls for incitement of violence targeting the Indian high commission in Maldives will be investigated. 

The reaction came after Riza called for an arson attack on the embassy in a tweet. In Dhivehi, he tweeted, "The 8th February arson attacks in Addu were carried out on India's order. We haven't retaliated to that yet. I propose we start from the Indian High Commission."

Political parties, including the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), have condemned the call for an attack on the Indian High Commission in the capital.