In a surprising turn of events, Deputy Commissioner of Police Ismail Naveen has been appointed as the acting Commissioner of Police, less than an hour after Deputy Commissioner Faruhadh Fikury was initially named for the post.
The post of Commissioner of Police became vacant following the resignation of Ali Shujau on Saturday, who previously held the post. The President’s Office’s chief spokesperson Heena Waleed, via a post on X, announced President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu’s acceptance of Shujau’s resignation at 7:42pm on Saturday evening.
Shortly afterwards, Home Minister Ali Ihusan, via a post on X, said Faruhadh has been appointed acting-Commissioner of Police. In a second post an hour later, Minister Ihusan said the Police’s top priority at the moment was the ongoing investigation, referring to the case of the fall of a young woman from the 9th floor of the Male’ building.
Citing the investigation was being led by Naveen, he said Naveen has been appointed acting-Commissioner of Police until the appointment of another individual for the post.
Shujau’s resignation came amid mounting public pressure over the police investigation into the young woman’s fall, amid widespread suspicion of a potential cover-up.
21-year-old Mariyam Yumnu was found injured on the rooftop of a warehouse in the Henveiru district at around 07:30 am on April 18. According to the police, their investigation uncovered that she fell from a skylight on the ninth-floor stairwell of the adjacent building, H. Fentenoy, but that there was no evidence of foul play.
But before her fall, she had been part of a group of at least nine individuals who were at Ma. Maandhooge Dhekunuge- for a party, where they are believed to have possibly consumed drugs and alcohol.
There soon emerged allegations of a police coverup after it became known that the individuals involved have family links to influential figures, including a cabinet minister and a diplomat. The police only named Yumnu, and did not name the other persons of interest in the case until six days later.
Meanwhile, the house where the group held the “party” was confirmed as the family residence of Transport Minister Mohamed Ameen, who admitted that two of his nephews were among the group of individuals involved, but denied he knew anything about what he described as the “gathering.”
In a press briefing on Thursday, the police said they were treating eight individuals – all of whom had been in the “party” with Yumnu – as persons of interest in the case. They are:
Raudh Ahmed Zilal, 21
Izdhiyaan Mohamed Maumoon, 28
Aishath Layaaly Iqbal, 22
Yoosuf Ahmed Akram, 22
Yoosuf Yassar Abdul Ghafoor, 28
Aminath Junaina Jamsheed, 24
Hussain Hamees Ali, 28
Ijaz Jaiz, 24
The same day, the police arrested Raudh, who had been with Yumnu in the last moments before her fall, for lack of cooperation. 
The police have said that both Yumnu and Raudh were heavily intoxicated at the time, and had both tested positive for narcotics. Clips of CCTV footage shared by police show Yumnu appeared to have trouble walking, and even fell down on the ground at one point.
The court order issued on Friday for Raudh’s remand extension by five days shows investigators believe Yumnu and Raudh had argued before she fell – something the police hadn’t mentioned in two press briefings held in the wake of the incident – a closed-door one on Tuesday and the open one on Thursday.
It also says that when questioned shortly after Yumnu’s fall, Raudh had responded with “I don’t know where she is” and “I think she fell.”
The case of Yumnu, who spent nearly three hours on the rooftop of a warehouse before a neighbor saw her and she was rescued, has sparked serial protests in Male’. The protestors, a vast majority of them young men and women, have been demanding justice for her, and the resignation of top government and police officials over the alleged coverup.
They have also demanded a free and fair investigation into the case, including the arrest and prosecution of everyone who had been with her before her fall, and an inquiry into police conduct in the case.