Clashes erupted in Gaaf Alif Maamendhoo yesterday after some billboards of the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) parliamentary candidate Shayyah Khaleel were covered up with pink cloth.
An eyewitness at the scene told Adhadhu that the incident occurred after Male' Deputy Mayor Ahmed Nareesh arrived with supporters in Maamendhoo on Saturday evening to canvass support for the ruling People's National Congress (PNC) candidate Ibrahim Didi.
"It was a 40-foot board of the candidate put up at the harbor area by MDP. [PPM-PNC supporters] went and draped pink cloth around it. Nareesh and supporters came to this island in the evening while people were upset about it. When they came, MDP supporters told Nareesh to 'man up' [without draping cloth around billboards]," the person said.
In the quarrel that broke out, PPM-PNC supporters targeted Mohamed Rauf, a senior MDP activist of Huvadhoo atoll, said Zubair Abdulla from Maamendhoo, who was at the scene at the time.
Nareesh said MDP members attacked him first.
However, some eyewitnesses at the scene denied the claim.
According to police, the incident is under investigation after it was reported by Nareesh.
A Maamendhoo man was brought to the island's police station in connection with the disturbance, Police Spokesperson Chief Superintendent Ahmed Shifan told Adhadhu.
A person who was injured in the violence was also taken to the Maamendhoo health center, Shifan said.
A source who spoke from Maamendhoo said the man who was treated at the health center was an MDP supporter.
