--- description: The blast is now being deemed an attempt on the President's life title: Maldives Arrests Two Presidential Aides for Boat Blast image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt59eca0ac592fac46/6988672b0b72e370776e632f/rtx1sskw.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Maldives](/tag/maldives/) ## Maldives Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Two Aides of Maldives President Arrested in Connection With Explosion on His Boat by [Rishi Iyengar](/author/rishi-iyengar/) ## Rishi Iyengar Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 7, 2015 4:18 AM CUT  Officials carry an injured woman off the speed boat of Maldives President Abdulla Yameen (not pictured) after an explosion on board, in Male, Maldives, on Sept. 28, 2015 Officials carry an injured woman off the speed boat of Maldives President Abdulla Yameen (not pictured) after an explosion on board, in Male, Maldives, on Sept. 28, 2015Reuters by [Rishi Iyengar](/author/rishi-iyengar/) ## Rishi Iyengar Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 7, 2015 4:18 AM CUT Two aides of Maldives President Abdulla Yameen were [arrested](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-34460502 "undefined") on Tuesday in connection with an explosion on his boat last month, with authorities now saying it was an attempted assassination rather than a mechanical failure as initially thought. Mohamed Hussain Shareef, Minister at the President’s Office, said investigators subsequently discounted the mechanical failure theory, the BBC reported. Both suspects had access to the boat “in the line of their duty,” Shareef said, but did not mention their specific alleged role in the bombing. The President [escaped unscathed](http://time.com/4051674/maldives-president-abdulla-yameen-boat-blast/ "undefined") from the blast, which took place just over a week ago as he was returning to the island nation’s capital city, Male, from the hajj pilgrimage in Mecca. His wife suffered minor injuries, however, while a bodyguard and another aide were hospitalized. Yameen, whose tenure since he came to power in 2013 has been controversial thanks to a greater crackdown on dissent and the imprisonment of his predecessor Mohamed Nasheed, has previously been threatened by militants linked to the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4064083/maldives-president-aides-arrested-boat-blast-abdulla-yameen/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4064083/maldives-president-aides-arrested-boat-blast-abdulla-yameen/"},"headline":"Two Aides of Maldives President Arrested in Connection With Explosion on His Boat","datePublished":"2015-10-07T04:18:05.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T11:34:26.766Z","description":"The blast is now being deemed an attempt on the President's life","url":"https://time.com/4064083/maldives-president-aides-arrested-boat-blast-abdulla-yameen/","keywords":["Maldives","Assassination","arrested","President","boat"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt59eca0ac592fac46/6988672b0b72e370776e632f/rtx1sskw.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Rishi Iyengar","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/rishi-iyengar/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt59eca0ac592fac46/6988672b0b72e370776e632f/rtx1sskw.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Officials carry an injured woman off the speed boat of Maldives President Abdulla Yameen after an explosion onboard, in Male, Maldives","caption":"Officials carry an injured woman off the speed boat of Maldives President Abdulla Yameen after an explosion onboard, in Male, Maldives","creditText":"Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/maldives/","name":"Maldives"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4064083/maldives-president-aides-arrested-boat-blast-abdulla-yameen/","name":"Two Aides of Maldives President Arrested in Connection With Explosion on His Boat"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"What Is A Caliphate?","description":"ISIS announced a new Muslim caliphate, changing its name to simply the Islamic State to reflect that. But what exactly is a caliphate?","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/KG9Y4fsg/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-06-30T19:36:42.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/KG9Y4fsg.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4064083/maldives-president-aides-arrested-boat-blast-abdulla-yameen/","duration":"PT1M31S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4064083/maldives-president-aides-arrested-boat-blast-abdulla-yameen/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```