Police in the Maldives have detained a coconut accused of vote-rigging in the island nation's presidential election.
The suspect fruit was found near a polling station, a school on the Kaafu atoll in the Indian Ocean.
The coconut was taken into custody after police received complaints.
"The 4in coconut had a [Koranic verse] written in Arabic [on it] and was lying on the ground near the school, easy for the public to see. It seems like it was a joke, just a prank, so that people will become aware," the Maldivian website Minivan reported.
The website also reports that local police have summoned a white magic practitioner to evaluate the young coconut believed to have been cursed by a black magic spell.
The news site said a source told them the fruit was left at the school as "a lesson for islanders not to practise black magic in an attempt to influence voting and that the polling area would be closely monitored to prevent such activities from occurring".
While the majority of the Maldives population are Sunni Muslim a belief in magic remains widespread in rural areas and coconuts are often used in rituals and spells.
Today's vote will test the popular holiday destination's young democracy after the ousting in February 2012 of its first elected president, Mohamed Nasheed, who says he was removed in a "coup".
