Terror plot: Powerful explosives seized from suspect's house

Police announced on Tuesday that security forces have recovered chemicals used for powerful explosions from the house of a man arrested during the special operation carried out early this month to prevent a major terrorist attack in the Maldives.

Police and military launch a major joint operation in Male, Addu and K. Guraidhoo on 11 November, arresting 14 people in the raids.

Police said in the statement on Tuesday that they had raided the houses of the arrested persons, including houses they were using, as well as the vehicles and dinghies used by them and recovered a large quantity of material suspected to be related to the case.

During these raids, police discovered three types of chemicals suspected to be highly explosive from the residence of one of the accused and collected samples of these chemicals. Police said that the Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) unit of MNDF has confirmed that the samples contain highly explosive substances. 

"MNDF EOD has observed that a small amount of these types of explosives can cause serious damage to human life and property," the police statement said.

According to the police, further testing is underway in the Maldives, and abroad.

Those arrested during the operation were in the age group of 18-46 years:

Police did not say where the attack was planned or whether the attack was aimed at specific groups. The police had earlier said that if the attack was successful, there was a high probability that many people would have been killed.