FORMER SNP chief executive Peter Murrell was released without charge on Wednesday night after spending 12 hours in police custody.

The home he shares with his wife and former first minister Nicola Sturgeon remains cordoned off, after both it and the offices of the SNP were raided on Wednesday morning.

Ms Sturgeon, who left the house shortly before the arrival of Police Scotland, was keen to quash innuendo and speculation around the search, stating that she “had no prior knowledge of Police Scotland’s intentions” and that she would “fully co-operate” with any inquiries.

The Police Scotland investigation began 18 months ago when both supporters and opponents of independence queried the whereabouts of £666,000 raised by the SNP with the purpose of spending it on a future independence campaign.

When concerns were raised over the issue in 2021 they were largely dismissed by prominent SNP members, not least by those close to Ms Sturgeon.

Mhairi Hunter, then a SNP Glasgow councillor and long-term member of staff at Ms Sturgeon’s office, when facing questions on Twitter about the funds, said on April 5 2021: “The NEC has signed off a budget this year including the £600k for independence campaign.

“This has been publicly announced. A group of people are obsessed with whether that amount was kept separately or weaved through different accounts. I don’t care.”

Tweeting on May 31 that year, after SNP MP Douglas Chapman resigned as SNP national treasurer, citing a lack of “support or financial information to carry out the fiduciary duties” of the role, Ms Hunter said: “I have no idea why he left but the fact is 600k is included in the budget for this financial year.

“If it is not spent then, yes, there will absolutely need to be questions asked and I will be asking them.”

Earlier, on March 1 2021, she had tweeted: “…a campaign backed by the £600k will be mobilised this year, after the election. But it’s important to win the election!”

With no independence campaign materialising after the 2021 Holyrood elections, however, beyond the request for a Section 30 order to hold a referendum, and a lack of clarity over the location of the money in SNP accounts, speculation intensified and Police Scotland launched their inquiry.

The inquiry continues.