For *Ahmed, 35, the night of April 17 was just like any other. Ahmed, who works in a government company, went home at dawn for his break time. But he faced a strange encounter on his way back to the office.
Ahmed was heading south on Kalaafaanu Hingun and stopped near Buruzu Magu when a man started calling.
The bare-chested young man, wearing only black shorts, was barefooted and did not seem upset or shocked. When Ahmed stopped, the young man ran up to him.
The man was Raudh Ahmed Zilal, 21, who had been with Hawwa Yumnu Rasheed, 21, when she had an unexplained fall from the ninth floor of Henveiru Fentenoy house. Ahmed realized the man's significance when the story gripped the nation and Raudh was arrested six days later.
"Someone has fallen on the roof"
Adhadhu team is working to uncover the facts of the case. We met Ahmed during this work. He met with our journalists to explain his encounter with Raudh.
"He [Raudh] stopped me and said someone has fallen. He asked if he can borrow my phone to make a call. He didn't say where exactly this person had fallen, but said it was a roof," he said.
Raudh did not tell Ahmed who had fallen. He used Ahmed's phone to make a call. But there was no response. Ahmed said Raudh seemed distressed when his call didn't go through.
"He tried to give me MVR 100, but I didn't accept it. Before he left he said, maybe this happened because it's Thursday night... Then he left," Ahmed said.
The security footage examined by Adhadhu also shows Raudh going towards the junction of Buruzu Magu and Kalaafaanu Hingun to stop Ahmed.
We checked the number dialed by Raudh on Ahmed's phone. It connects with a Bangladeshi national. The 37-year-old man works at a tailor shop in Maafannu.
Adhadhu team tracked the Bangladeshi man and interviewed him. He said he arrived in the Maldives less than a year ago and had never met Raudh. We showed him a picture of Raudh, but he insisted he did not know him. The Bangladeshi man cannot speak Dhivehi properly.
The Bangladeshi man showed us his phone's call log and it showed a missed call from Ahmed's number that night. The man said he was asleep at the time of the call and did not call back because his phone did not have balance. It appears that Raudh mistakenly called the wrong number because he was intoxicated.
Police interviewed Ahmed for the investigation, but did not contact the Bangladeshi man.
Raudh's 'friend' cycles around
The footage publicized by the police show Raudh, Yumnu and a third person who partied with them near Fentenoy house.
The man rode a GN motorbike and was wearing a white shirt. Police previously told reporters that this man had attended the party with Raudh and Yumnu. But police did not disclose that the man had returned to the road.
Video footage of about two or three hours, analyzed by Adhadhu, show this man riding his motorbike in front of Fentenoy twice after Raudh and Yumnu went inside. The first time was two minutes after they went inside and the second time was four minutes later.
The man's identity is unknown and it is unclear why he cycled near the house. But police information confirms this man is connected to the case.
Raudh asks to charge his phone
In the last few days, a video which shows a man chasing Raudh had circulated on social media, raising questions about the man's involvement in the case. Adhadhu team analyzed video footage from four security cameras in the area to identify the man.
*Mohamed, 21, spoke to Adhadhu on condition of anonymity.
He had been out of Male' on a fishing trip with friends since the evening of April 17, Thursday until late that night. His friends confirmed this and they have photos and videos from the trip.
After returning to Male', Mohamed went to a friend's place near Fentenoy house at around 3:00 am on April 18. According to information from police, at this time, Raudh, Yumnu and seven others were partying in Mahchangolhi Maandhooge Dhekunuge.
Raudh's movements after the incident.
Mohamed's friend's place is in a narrow alley on Kashima Hingun. Mohamed met Raudh in the alley.
"I was sitting on a bike outside a friend's place. I was waiting for my friend to drop his bike key, to borrow it to use on Friday. Then I heard someone call out 'bro bro.' He was bare-chested," Mohamed explained.
Raudh came up to Mohamed and asked if he had an iphone charger. Mohamed said no, but Raudh kept insisting for help to charge his phone.
"At that point he said his friend had fallen from a building. Raudh said he saw his friend falling. I asked him if he was sure and he said yes. But he did not say where the person had fallen from and where they had landed," he said.
Mohamed asked if Raudh had called the police, family or an ambulance and he responded that his phone was out of charge. Raudh offered money to charge his phone, but Mohamed said he did not accept it.
"I helped charge his phone to do something good. I asked him if it was okay if I went up to my friend's place and charge the phone. I went up when he said okay. But when I came down after charging, he was not there," Mohamed added.
Mohamed began looking for Raudh and he first checked Kashima Hingun. Then he went towards Buruzu Magu but could not spot Raudh. After that, he walked towards STELCO. All this was recorded on the security cameras.
"I went towards STELCO and just when I turned, I saw Raudh heading towards that house [Fentenoy] from Buruzu Magu. That is why I started running. I ran after him and saw him inside an alley on Buruzu Magu. There were two people on the road waiting on motorbikes. Raudh was speaking with them," he said.
Video footage shows Raudh speaking with the two men on motorbikes. But it is not clear if they came because Raudh had called them. They have not been identified yet.
Mohamed voluntarily shared this information with the police.
Discrepancy in time stamps of video footages
One issue noticed in this case is that there were discrepancies in the time stamps of video footages analyzed by Adhadhu and publicized by the police. There are major time differences in footage from two cameras. This is why it's difficult to create a timeline of the incident.
The discrepancies in time stamps was spotted through evidence unrelated to the footages. Raudh used Ahmed's phone to make the call to the Bangladeshi man at 5:03 am. This time is guaranteed on the calls logs from Ahmed's and the Bangladeshi man's phones.
Adhadhu team analyzed the video from a camera which shows the front door of Fentenoy from the moment they went inside and until daybreak. It shows Raudh going towards Kalaafaanu Hingun at 5:13 am. That is a time difference of 10 minutes. Police did not disclose discrepancies in time stamps during their briefings.
Other footage also shows that time stamps did not match the actual time. So it is unclear how police made the timeline of the incident. Police referred to the time on the footage during the press briefings.
Exiting and entering the house after the incident, all recorded movement
It is difficult to provide the exact time of the movements because time stamps on the cameras were different.
But comparing the movements with the phone call and the time that police believe Yumnu fell, Raudh first exited Fentenoy at 4:58 am.
Another person was seen leaving the house before Raudh. Different people interviewed by Adhadhu said the man lives in a rented apartment in the house. He leaves the house a few seconds before Raudh. It is not clear if the two met on the staircase or in the elevator. Adhadhu has not been able to interview this individual.
Immediately after exiting Fentenoy, Raudh looks up at the building and towards the roof of Henveiru Mitaaz where Yumnu had landed. He was seen calling out something. He then sits on a motorbike in front of the building with his phone in his hand.
The camera also captured the movements of employees of Buruzu Catering located at a lower floor of Fentenoy. One person looks out from a window in the first floor at the sound of Raudh calling for Yumnu. Raudh also spoke with a Buruzu employee on the road.
Raudh points at his phone and then at the roof. It appeared that he was requesting to make a phone call. But the Buruzu employee refuses and leaves the area. After that, Raudh stays a little longer looking up. After spending about 1 and a half minutes on the road, Raudh enters Fentenoy again.
Protests demanding justice for Yumnu. -- Adhadhu Photo.
Raudh exits the house for a second time after about three minutes later. He comes out and looks up while sitting on a motorbike. About 30 seconds later, he goes towards the front door and walks to Kalaafaanu Hingun. This was when he met Ahmed.
Raudh spends about two minutes to speak with Ahmed and use his phone. He returns to Buruzu Magu and walks west past Fentenoy. He stops near the Buruzu Catering van in front of an alley next to Fentenoy.
He stays near the vehicle and is seen running into Fentenoy for a third time. He spends about four minutes inside the house. He comes out again, looks up and calls something.
Raudh then heads west from Buruzu Magu. This was the last image on the footage publicized by the police. Police have so far not disclosed whether Raudh went near Fentenoy after that or whether there was any footage showing him near the house later.
But Adhadhu can confirm that Raudh was active near Fentenoy even after that.
Raudh's movements after the police footage
Raudh walks west on Buruzu Magu and turns to Kashimaa Hingun. He goes to the alley on Kashimaa Hingun and hands his phone to Mohamed to charge it.
Mohamed goes into his friend's house to charge the phone and Raudh returns to Buruzu Magu and Kashimaa Hingun junction. He walks north of Kashimaa Hingun and and returns to Buruzu Magu a few seconds later. He then enters the alley west to Fentenyoy.
He stays in the alley for about two minutes and then walks west on Buruzu Magu. This time he goes past Kashimaa Hingun and it appears that he stopped near the junction of Buruzu Magu and Dhon Adharaadha Hingun.
A motorbike stops near Raudh and a man comes off it. But the video was too grainy and it is difficult to identify the make of the bike. He stays there for about four minutes and returns towards Fentenoy.
Video proves Raudh did not leave the area at the time police disclosed by police.
The widely circulated video of Mohamed running after Raudh to hand over the charged phone occurred at this time. Two people on motorbikes were seen near the alley as Mohamed had earlier told Adhadhu. When Mohamed leaves, Raudh was seen speaking with them.
He also makes a phone call while with them. He was on the phone call while walking towards Kashimaa Hingun. He walks north of Kashimaa Hingun with his phone to his ears. He then sits on a motorbike, playing with his phone, at the junction of Kashimaa Hingun and Buruzu Magu.
He stays there for about two or three minutes and goes back towards Fentenoy. He was on a call with someone. CCTV footage shows him speaking on the phone. The actual time was 5:27 am. This was the last time Raudh was captured on camera footage obtained by Adhadhu.
*Names changed for anonymity
This article was first written in Dhivehi by Ahmed Aaidh.
