Two men, associated with Lashkar -e-Taiba have been arrested in Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh.
45 year old Abdul Malek, a Bangladeshi and his compatriot Pakistani citizen Mohammed Shafi, aged 30 were arrested in Airport Railway Station. Lashkar-e-Taiba is the Pakistani militant outfit that has been held responsible for the devastating 2008 guerilla style Mumbai attacks. The recent alerts of some such styled attack in Europe has caused much public and private consternation amongst traveller, tourists and their home-bound families in the West.
The Daily Star quotes Rapid Action Battalion Director, General Mukhlesur Rahman:
“Malek was coordinating Lashkar activities in Sathdkhira area after he came back from Pakistan in 2003” Sathkhira is a district of Bangladesh that borders West Bengal.
This move comes well-timed: the arrest comes just as the recent alerts against militant activity in Pakistan aimed at Bangladesh’s European allies have peaked. Moreover, India has long blamed Bangladesh for allowing renegades from Pakistan, implicitly sanctioned safe harbor. This move argues against this, though that the RAB executed the arrests suggests the arrests were heavy-handed.
Indeed, judging by photograph the Daily Star published, the two detainees have been paraded around, and have been, shackled and tagged with the relevant information as one might a cat or a lost dog.