The family of Abdulla Rasheed - who died in police custody - have gathered near the mortuary in protest being disallowed to see Rasheed's body two days after his passing.

Rasheed passed in police custody after being arrested by Drug Enforcement Department on Tuesday, garnering a lot of backlash to the institution for their poor handling of the situation. As per police, Rasheed suffered a seizure after getting chest pains and was taken to Madaveli Health Centre for treatment. However, doctors at the Centre confirmed Rasheed was already dead when he was brought in.

The family has accused police of failing to provide timely assistance to Rasheed, and that police never showed the court order during the arrest either.

Speaking to the press near the mortuary, Rasheed's mother Mariyam Ahmed said police searched their resident for 4 hours before arresting Rasheed. Mariyam Ahmed said Rasheed informed police that he had chest pains but police refused him assistance.

"They fled the scene after taking his lifeless body to Madaveli Health Centre. A man from Madaveli called and informed me that my son has passed away," Mariyam said.

Rasheed's wife Aminath Leena said that police have refused to handover his body to the family. Leena said that the family is against conducting a post mortem on the body.

"We have not got in the way of their investigation. All we have said is that they cannot conduct an autopsy without sharing details and evidence with us. We have a right too," Leena said.

Leena said that Rasheed does not have a police record and he has never used drugs, and that police are still refusing to let the family see his body.

Rasheed's Uncle Ahmed Shareef said that Home Minister Imran met with Rasheed's mother and stated that an autopsy would be conducted even against the family's wishes. As such, Shareef said that the family will not accept the body if an autopsy is conducted without their consent.

"We do not want an autopsy, we will not accept his body if an autopsy is conducted without our consent," Shareef said.

National Integrity Commission (NIC) has launched an investigation to determine if there was any foul play involved in Rasheed's death. Rasheed's sister Shamsunisa said that NIC and police have two very different stories. She said the family wants to hold a funeral as soon as possible.

Police said on Thursday that the primary investigating agency in this case is NIC. As such, NIC will be the one to communicate on the investigation, police said.