Maldives police have arrested two serving ministers, Shamnaz Saleem and Adam Rameez, for allegedly performing black magic on President Mohamed Muizzu, local media reported on Thursday. Shamnaz Saleem, a state minister at the Environment Ministry, and her ex-husband Adam Rameez, a minister at the President’s Office, were detained along with two others. The police have not provided details about the reasons for the arrests or the specifics of the alleged black magic.
According to news portal Sun.mv, Shamnaz and two other individuals were arrested on Sunday and have been remanded in custody for seven days. The Environment Ministry suspended Shamnaz from her post on Wednesday, and Rameez was suspended on Thursday. Both Shamnaz and Rameez had previously worked with President Muizzu on the Male City Council when he was serving as mayor.
After Muizzu assumed office as president in November last year, Shamnaz was initially appointed as a state minister at Muliaage, the official residence of the president, before being transferred to the Environment Ministry. “Rameez, during his time at Male City Council, was known as a close aide of Muizzu, who was the mayor at that time,” reported Maldives’ Sun. “However, he has been absent from the public light in the past five months or so,” it added.
The Maldives government and the President’s Office have not made any official comments regarding the arrests. The police did not officially confirm that they were arrested for practicing ‘black magic’ but accepted that they were investigating a case which involved Shamnaz and two others. The lack of information from the authorities has led to widespread speculation and concern among the public.