2 Bangladeshi ‘militants’ held in India

Two people stated to be Bangladeshi nationals with alleged links to militant outfit Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen and ISIS have been arrested near Patna railway station in India's Bihar.

Anti-Terror Squad of Bihar police on Tuesday identified the duo as Khairul Mandal and Abu Sultan from Jhenaidah district and claimed they are associated with JMB and Islamic State Bangladesh, reports our New Delhi correspondent.

A statement from them claimed to have found in their possession photos pertaining to deployment of security forces in Jammu and Kashmir post Pulwama terror attack by Jaish-e-Mohammed in which 40 Indian paramilitary personnel were killed on February 14.

Besides, pamphlets and posters of ISIS were found from them when they were arrested on Monday evening, the statement said.

Acting on specific inputs, the ATS had apprehended the two Bangladeshi men from a motorcycle stand adjacent to Madni Musafirkhana, a lodge near Patna railway station. They were produced before the ATS court which sent them to jail, the statement said.

Police have seized three mobile phones, a memory card, two fake voter identity cards, a fake PAN card (used for opening bank accounts and conduct high-value transactions), and railway tickets from them, it said.

The two had entered India without any legal document and had procured fake voter identity cards, the statement said, adding they were tasked by the head of JMB to induct Muslim youths into the outfit.

They had visited Kolkata, Kerala, Delhi, Patna and Gaya for inducting Muslim youths besides carrying out a recce of Buddhist shrines to execute their terror plan, the ATS said.

The two told the police that they wanted to join ISIS and had stayed in Gaya for 11 days for the purpose, the ATS statement said.