Male: A policeman was stabbed to death in Maldives on Sunday night sparking fresh political tensions in the country, and triggering verbal volleys between the ruling coalition and the party of ousted president Mohamed Nasheed.
The 26-year-old policeman was stabbed with a knife while he was on his way to report for duty in Kaashidhoo island, which is just an hour ride from the capital Male.
Lance Corporal Adam Haleem sustained deep cut wounds at four places on his body, and died while being administered first aid. He is survived by his wife and a three-month-old son.
President Mohamed Waheed condemned the attack and ordered to fly the national flag at half mast as a mark of mourning.
"Strongly condemn the killing of a policeman while on duty. Enough of hate mongering against officers of the Law," tweeted the President.
Waheed's spokesperson Masood Imad took to twitter to blame the opposition MDP of Nasheed for the killing.
"LCoporal Adam Haleem has been stabbed to death by MDP sympathisers. This is the result of Mr Nasheed's call for inciting violence & hatred," he tweeted.
Vice President Mohamed Waheed Deen too blamed Nasheed and his call for 'direct action' protests for encouraging people to carry out attacks on the police.
"This is not democracy, this isn't democracy at all," he said.
Police said the person suspected of killing the officer was in custody but did not identify the suspect.
While government functionaries blamed the MDP for the violence, Nasheed's party told political figures to stop using the incident for political gain.
Nasheed also condemned the attack in the "strongest possible terms" in a twitter message.
"This party sees the attempts by some political figures to politicise the attack on lance corporal Haleem for political gain as a cowardly act," a statement by MDP said.
PTI
First Published: Monday, July 23, 2012, 20:00