Three Bangladeshi nationals were arrested by the city unit of the Maharashtra Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) on Saturday on suspicion that they were part of an al Qaeda-inspired extremist organisation.
The trio, Mohammad Habibur Rahman Habib (31), Mohammad Ripan Hossain and Hanan Anwar Hussain Khan (both aged 25), had been residing in the city with forged identity papers and were believed to have links with the outlawed Ansarullah Bangla Team said ATS sources.
They were produced in a local court, which remanded them in police custody till March 29. “The suspects were picked up for questioning from the city’s Akurdi and Wanowrie areas... We are interrogating them to ascertain the nature of their association with the ABT and their role here,” said an ATS officer.
The city ATS team led by Assistant Commissioner of Police (ATS) Sunil Darekar acted on a tip-off received on Friday about an alleged ‘infiltrator’ from Bangladesh living in the Kondhwa-Wanorie area.
On detaining and quizzing the suspect, the team obtained information about the whereabouts of the other two Bangladeshi nationals.
