Alleged Burdwan Blast Mastermind's Wife, 8 Others Arrested in Bangladesh

Dhaka: Four members of Bangladesh's outlawed militant group Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen - which has been trying to overthrow the Sheikh Hasina government - and five others have been arrested, Bangladesh police said on Sunday. The arrests come after the October 2 blast in West Bengal's Burdwan, which laid bare the plot.

Among those arrested was Fatema, the chief of the women's wing of Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen, whose husband Sajid had been arrested in India in connection with the Burdwan blast.

Last week, India updated Bangladesh about the result of the investigations into the blast, in which two members of the Jamaat were killed. A team headed by the National Investigations Agency handed over a list of 11 suspects in Bangladesh to officials in Dhaka.

The group also planned to assassinate Bangladesh's main opposition leader, Khaleda Zia. Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina have dominated the country's politics for more than a decade.

"Fatema and three men were arrested in a raid in Dhaka and we also recovered a huge quantity of bomb-making materials and explosives," said police spokesman Monirul Islam.

Another five suspected militants, including a Pakistani and a Saudi national, were arrested on Sunday at a hotel in the southern port city of Chittagong, said police officer Banaj Kumar Majumdar. But it is not known yet to which militant group they belong, he added.

Under Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh has been working closely with India to tackle militant groups, including the handover of those India suspects of stirring up trouble in its remote northeast.

The Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen was thought to have been lying low since a crackdown by authorities after it detonated nearly 500 bombs almost simultaneously on a single day in 2005 across Bangladesh, including its capital Dhaka.

Subsequent suicide attacks by its militants on several courthouses killed 25 people and left hundreds injured.

A security van taking members of the group to court earlier this year was targeted by gunmen who opened fire and tossed bombs at the vehicle.