Police probe threat of attack in Addu linked to foiled terror plot
The ‘brothers’ demanded to be released in the letter are believed to have been arrested for planning a deadly terror attack in November.
By
Aman Haleem
Police in Addu have launched an investigation into a letter threatening to carry out a bloodbath in the southernmost city.
The warning letter bearing the symbol used by a radical terrorist group reads, "Surrender before blood is spilled", "Let our brothers go" and "This is the last warning". According to some residents of Addu, the letter was placed outside the Maradhoo Youth Centre.
The police said that the issue of the document has come to the notice of the police, and that they were looking into it.
If this is a real warning, the ‘brothers’ they demand to be released on the threat are believed to have been arrested for planning a deadly terror attack in November. In a joint operation carried out by the police and the military in Addu, Male and other islands, 14 people were arrested. The police also found a type of chemical used to make bombs.
At the time, the police said they were preparing to carry out an attack that would kill many people using explosives. All those arrested were suspected to be supporters of terror group ISIS, police had said at the time.
Five of those arrested in Addu were detained pending trial. After the High Court granted one bail after the manner in which one of them was apprehended went wrong, the police re-arrested him with a court order.
