Bangladeshi Terror Suspect Arrested From Muzaffarnagar

Lucknow: A Bangladesh national, who investigators say was recruiting young men for terror activities and providing them with logistical support, was arrested today from Muzaffarnagar in western Uttar Pradesh. The man, identified as Abdullah, is suspected to be linked to the Ansarullah Bangla Team -- a Bangladesh-based extremist group inspired by the Al Qaeda.

Sources in the Anti-Terror Squad, which made the arrest in a joint operation with the state police, said Abdullah had been living in Uttar Pradesh since 2011. Initially, he lived in Deoband, but moved to Muzaffarnagar's Kutesara area last month.

Abdullah was involved in terror recruitment, said the officials. He was also providing fake identity cards and safe hideouts for Bangladeshi terror recruits in India. During the search at his house, the officials recovered fake Aadhar, passport, 13 other fake identity cards, documents with instructions on bomb-making and jihadi literature.

Senior state police officer Anand Kumar said during questioning, Abdullah spoke of a man, Faizan, who was apparently the ringleader. But the man, who was living in Deoband, managed to escape before the investigators could get to him. The police recovered "illegal things" from his hideout and four others are being interrogated in the case, the officer said.

Bangladesh has been witnessing an increasing number of terror attacks over the last four years.

The worst of these was the attack on a cafe at an upscale locality in Bangladesh capital Dhaka in July last year. Twenty-nine people were killed in the attack, conducted by five terrorists linked to Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen, Bangladesh government had said.

The Ansarullah Bangla Team had been accused of a series of attacks on secular writers and bloggers. In 2015, the group had published a hit-list of international bloggers and activists. Nine of the people named were UK nationals and two were from the US.