Male, Jul 26 (IANS): The 10 suspects arrested in connection to a terrorist attack targeting former Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed on May 6 have no direct links to the Islamic State (IS) militant group, the Maldives Police Service (MPS) said.

On Sunday, Assistant Commissioner of Police Mohamed Riyaz said that despite having no official connection with the terror group, "the suspects do follow the ideologies maintained by the IS and have also actively taken part in spreading this ideology", reports Xinhua news agency

Riyaz said that there was no concrete evidence to prove that any of the suspects was part of an IS cell or acting on the directions of the international terrorist organisation.

The MPS revealed the names of the 10 suspects arrested in connection to the attack.

Nasheed was critically injured by an improvised explosive device (IED) as he was entering his car on May 6.

The IED had been planted in a motorcycle parked near his car.

Nasheed was rushed to ADK Hospital in Male where he received multiple life saving surgeries.

He was later transferred to Germany for recovery.