Bangladeshi suspected militants arrested from Zia Airport

Dhaka, Aug 6 (UNI) Police today arrested 24 suspected local militants from Zia International Airport here when they were on their way to Afghanistan through India.

The militants, all in their twenties, were scheduled to board a private airliners this morning to fly to Kabul by making stops at Kolkata and New Delhi airports in India.

Bangladesh Immigration Police told reporters that these people could not give ''satisfactory'' answers as to why they were travelling to Afghanistan. Some said they were going for work, some said for touring.

The arrested people who are aged between 20 to 22 years were handed over to the Airport police for further investigation.

''Since they were travelling to Afghanistan and they could not give any satisfactory answers about the purpose of their visit, we suspect they might have links with militant organisations.

Otherwise, why will they be travelling to war-torn Kabul'' a police officer said on condition of anonymity.

The officer could not say which militant outfit the arrested persons belong to. ''We'll not call them militants, but we suspect them militants.'' The Bangladesh government earlier rounded up hundreds of militants of Jamaatul Mujaheedin Bangladesh (JMB) after synchronized bomb blasts in 63 districts in the country on August 17, 2004 leaving three people dead and scores wounded.

The banned outfit JMB later on staged series of blasts by their suicide squads killing lawyers and police to establish Islamic rule in Bangladesh.

Six JMB kingpins including its leader Shaikh Abdur Rahman were hanged on March 29 this year.

UNI