The 1988 Maldives coup d'état was the attempt by a group of Maldivians led by Abdullah Luthufi and assisted by armed mercenaries of a Tamil secessionist organisation from Sri Lanka, the People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam(PLOTE), to overthrow the government in the island republic of Maldives. The coup d'état failed after the Maldivian National Security service eliminated the terrorist leaders of PLOTE. At the realization of the attacks failure, the terrorist group hijacked a Maldivian freighter named MV Progresslight and set sail towards Sri Lanka. After the terrorists escaped, the Indian Army was called for help and they intervened the operation, code named Operation Cactus. The freighter was caught, hostages retrieved and the mercenaries brought into custody.

According to Rejaul Karim Laskar, a scholar of Indian foreign policy, India's intervention in the attempted coup became necessary as in the absence of Indian intervention, external powers would have been tempted to intervene or even to establish bases in Maldives which being in India’s backyard would have been detrimental to India’s national interest. India, therefore, intervened with “Operation Cactus”

The operation started on the night of 3 November 1988, when Ilyushin Il-76 aircraft of the Indian Air Force airlifted the elements of the 50th Independent Parachute Brigade, commanded by Brig Farukh Bulsara, the 6th Battalion of the Parachute Regiment, and, the 17th Parachute Field Regiment from Agra Air Force Station and flew them non-stop over 2,000 kilometres (1,240 mi) to land them over the Malé International Airport on Hulhule Island. The Indian Army paratroopers arrived on Hulhule in nine hours after the appeal from President Gayoom.

The Indian paratroopers immediately secured the airfield, crossed over to Malé using commandeered boats and rescued President Gayoom. The paratroopers restored control of the capital to President Gayoom's government within hours. Some of the mercenaries fled toward Sri Lanka in a hijacked freighter. Those unable to reach the ship in time were quickly rounded up and handed over to the Maldives government. Nineteen people reportedly died in the fighting, most of them mercenaries. The dead included two hostages killed by the mercenaries. The Indian Navy frigates Godavari and Betwa intercepted the freighter off the Sri Lankan coast, and captured the mercenaries. Swift operation by the military and precise intelligence information successfully quelled the attempted coup d'état in the island nation.

Operation Cactus : How India Averted Maldives Crisis in 1988 (2018) is a TV documentarywhich premièred on Veer by Discovery Channel series, Battle Ops.

Sources - Google