Kandahar hijacking case: JeM militant arrested in Bangladesh

Dhaka: Top JeM militant Nannu Mia alias Belal Mandol, who claimed to have played a key role in the hijacking of an Indian Airlines plane in 1999 from Kathmandu to Kandahar, has been arrested along with four other militants near the Dhaka College, Bangladeshi officials have said.

Five operatives of the Pakistan-based militant group Jaish-e-Mohammed, including its Pakistani coordinator in Bangladesh who was also a recruiter for operations in India, were nabbed here, officials said on Sunday.

Of the five JeM activists, one is a Pakistani national while the remaining four are Bangladeshi citizens, said Mohammad Kamaruzzaman, Assistant Director of the elite Rapid Action Battalion (RAB). The arrest of Belal, who claims to be a native of north Bangladeshi town Shylet, along with Rezwan Ahmed is being considered as a major success by the local authorities.

RAB officials said they had learnt that Nannu was imprisoned in Guwahati for about 10 years, with more than four militancy-related cases pending against him in different courts in India.

However, sources in Delhi said they had no information whether Nannu was involved in the hijacking case. Rezwan, 26, of Karachi, two brothers Imazuddin alias

Munna and Sadek Hossain alias Khoka and Abu Naser Munshi were arrested during the special anti-militancy drive.