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| India-Pakistan |
| Al Qaeda suspects nabbed in Manipur |
| 2007-08-21 |
| Paramilitary troopers have apprehended 15 suspected Al Qaeda activists from a border town in Manipur after the group entered the region from Myanmar, officials said Monday. A defence ministry spokesperson said Assam Rifles troopers nabbed the group from a house Friday at Moreh town, 110 km from Manipur's capital Imphal. Moreh is located on the border with Myanmar. They were proceeding to Bangladesh via Manipur and Silchar in Assam, the sources said. Foreign currency, including US dollars, was seized from the arrested persons, the sources said. The other currencies recovered from them were Bangladeshi Taka, Myanmarese Kyat and some coins. While one of the activists had a work permit of Thailand, identity card, hospital card, income tax card, a bank receipt of a Kuala Lumpur bank were also seized from the others, the sources said. The activists were identified as Mohammed Nasen (42), Faizu Rehaman (17), Sled Salam (21), Abul Hussein (42) and Mohammed Rehman (18), all Bangladeshi nationals. The rest were identified as Mahabu Basar (22), Mohammed Junet (28), Basir Ahmad (21), Mohammed Salim (23), Sabir Ahmad (31), Mohammed Rohid (17), Abdullah (32), Mohammed Abdul (18), B Ahmad (18) and Sali Ahmad (32), all from Myanmar-Bangladesh border, the sources said. "The group of 15 Muslim migrants had entered Moreh from Myanmar without valid travel documents. We shall be formally handing them over to the police Monday for further interrogation," defence spokesperson Lalit Pant told IANS. "No arms or ammunition were recovered from the group." Police and intelligence officials said 10 of them were Myanmarese and five were Bangladeshi nationals - the group members were planning to enter Bangladesh through neighbouring Assam. "There is a strong suspicion that they have links with the Al Qaeda or some other Muslim fundamentalist or terrorist groups. We shall soon be interrogating them," a senior police official said requesting not to be named. Manipur, bordering Myanmar, is a hotbed of insurgency. Most rebel groups in Manipur have bases in Myanmar from where they carry out hit-and-run guerrilla strikes in the region. |
| Posted by:Fred |