Dhaka, July 21: A suspected top operative of Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorist group was arrested in Bangladesh, the second such catch in less than a week, police said today. Maulana Mohammed Mansur Ali alias Maulana Habibullah, an Indian national, was active in Kashmir and has been the main organiser of LeT in Bangladesh, Deputy Commissioner of Detective Branch Monirul Islam told reporters.
He was arrested from Dakkhin Khan area in Dhaka yesterday after an intensive manhunt engaging police spies, Islam said. The officer said in line with confessions of Mufti Obaidullah, a LeT-linked militant arrested last week and now in custody on a seven-day remand, police launched the manhunt and arrested Ali, who was working at a madrasah.
Both Obaidullah and Ali told the police that they were residents of West Bengal of India and entered Bangladesh in 1995 to evade arrest by Indian security forces. Islam said like Obaidullah, Ali too was being chased by Indian security forces for their militant activities in Kashmir with the support of Pakistan-based LeT, which is also blamed for the Mumbai attacks.
In initial interrogation, he said one of his brothers was killed in an encounter with Indian border guards. Both of them were veterans of Afghan resistance against Soviet invasion, trained in operating heavy weapons, and were also linked to India”s Asif Reza Commando Force (ARCF) and Harkatul Jihad al-Islami (HuJI) of Bangladesh.
—PTI—