Detectives arrested three Pakistanis of Myanmar origin Sunday night on suspicion of having links with the banned militant outfit Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan.
Mehmud, 26, Osman, 23, and Fakhrul Hasan, 50, were arrested at Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy around 10:30pm in possession of a laptop containing manuals for making bombs and using firearms.
They were produced before a court yesterday which placed them on 13 days' remand for each.
Monirul Islam, joint commissioner of Detective Branch of Police, at a press briefing at Dhaka Metropolitan Police media centre in the capital yesterday claimed that the trio had links with militant groups in Bangladesh as well.
He did not disclose the names of the groups for the sake of investigation.
"Their key aim was to revitalise the weakened militant groups and their movements in Bangladesh," said the DB official.
Mehmud and Osman were experts in making 12 types of bombs, including car bombs and grenades, Monirul said, adding that they had come to Bangladesh a year ago.
Monirul said Mehmud and Osman had been arrested and released two months ago but he did not reveal why they were arrested then.
Arrestee Fakhrul, who came to Bangladesh a month and a half ago, re-engaged Mehmud and Osman to carry out destructive operations prior to the January 5 national polls, claimed Monirul, a spokesman for DMP.
He said, "As their mission failed due to strict vigilance of law enforcers, they decided to stay for a few more days in Bangladesh and head for Myanmar at a convenient time to assist their like-minded organisation Tehrik-e-Azadi Arakan there."
They were of Myanmar origin and had moved to Pakistan and were recruited into the Taliban force. They were trained to take part in a "Jihad in Afghanistan". Later, they received Pakistan citizenship, Monirul said.
He said the detectives were hoping to get more information out of the three regarding their patrons, political motives and intention during the remand period.
The detectives recovered a Pakistani passport with an expired Bangladeshi visa from Fakhrul. The other two had no travel documents on them. Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan is a leading group of Islamist militants operating in Pakistan with the intention to enforce its version of the Sharia.
Enraged by the execution of war criminal Abdul Quader Mollah, also a Jamaat-e-Islami leader, the outfit on December 20 last year threatened to attack the Bangladesh High Commission in Islamabad.
Tehrik-e-Taliban, led by Maulana Fazlullah, gained notoriety for a failed bombing attempt in Times Square, New York, on May 1, 2010. Even on Sunday, Tehrik-e-Taliban operatives carried out a bomb attack in North Waziristan of Pakistan that killed 20 soldiers and injured at least 30 people.
http://www.information.myanmaronlinecentre.com/three-pakistanis-held/
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