Two weeks ago Ali Hassan, a 76 year-old man, was found murdered with multiple stab wounds on Kudahuvadhoo.

Hassan was found knifed at an abandoned house around 8:00 pm on the evening of January 8.

A police spokesperson confirmed Minivan News that the arrests were made and that none of the suspects had so far been released.

“We are currently investigating the case and will provide details later,” he said.

A special team from the Serious and Organised Crime Department was dispatched to the island the day of the murder.

The victim had previously been accused of using sorcery on a 37 year-old woman, who was reported missing at 2:00am on December 4, 2011 and whose body was found floating in Kudahuvadhoo lagoon later that morning.

Island Council President of Kudahuvadhoo Ibrahim Fikry today told Minivan News that the islanders were all frightened after the incident.

“After the death of the woman the islanders were scared, and then this incident occurred and now the islanders are worse,” he said adding that no one walks on the roads now after the sun goes down.

“The injuries sustained were horrific,” Fikry told Minivan News at the time, claiming to have seen the body of the man.

Fikry said that the victim’s forehead was slashed and that his neck was slit. “There were deep stab wounds to the chest and back, revealing the bones. The intestines were visible from a slash to the stomach,” he recalled.

Speaking to Minivan News, an islander from Kudahuvadhoo claimed that the victim was “unpopular” in the community for his alleged practice of sorcery.

Hassan was formerly Deputy Island Chief of Gemedhoo in Dhaal Atoll, which was devastated in the 2004 tsunami. When the population resettled in Kudahuvadhoo, he was removed from the position over allegations of child abuse, said a council member.