By Xinhua
Colombo : Eight more suspects have been arrested in connection with the explosion of an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) in the Maldivian capital of Male Saturday afternoon that injured 12 foreign tourists.
A Maldivian government spokeswoman told Xinhua from Male on Monday that with these eight suspects, 10 people have so far been taken into police custody in connection with this explosion.
She said that of the 10 arrested, eight of them are Maldivians and two of them are Bangladeshi nationals.
The spokeswoman said the arrests were made based on various evidence gathered by the investigation, and the police are receiving tremendous support from government sectors and general public to apprehend those connected to this case.
The incident happened at 2:36 p.m. on Saturday (0936 GMT) in Sultan Park, injuring two British nationals, two Japanese and eight Chinese.
The two British tourists who sustained significant burns are still being treated in a local hospital while the other 10 tourists who suffered minor burns and injury caused by flying shrapnel have been discharged.
Government officials said the two British nationals are out of danger and they are scheduled to be discharged on Monday.
Maldivian President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom linked the explosion to the people calling for a tourism boycott in the Maldives, saying the incident was “alerting every evil minded person that tourism was a good target to hit in order to hurt the government.”
Gayoom stressed on Saturday shortly after the incident that the people responsible for the Maldives’ first terrorist attack must be found and punished under law.
More than 600,000 tourists visit the tiny but beautiful archipelago each year, generating about one-third of the country’s total income.