Indian police arrest woman suspected of plotting to kill Bangladesh PM

DHAKA, Nov. 9 (NsNewsWire) — Indian police have arrested a 36-year-old woman suspected of being involved in an Islamist plot to assassinate the prime minister of Bangladesh and carry out a coup.

The arrest comes days after Indian security officials said they had uncovered a plot by members of the Islamist militant group Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen targeting Sheikh Hasina, reports Reuters.

The group, accused of carrying out scores of attacks in Bangladesh, also planned to assassinate the country’s main opposition leader, Khaleda Zia, Indian officials said. Hasina and Zia have dominated Bangladeshi politics for more than a decade.

Pallab Bhattacharjee, additional director general of police in the north-eastern Indian state of Assam, said the woman had been also charged with collecting arms with an intention of waging war against India.

“She has been arrested by the special operations unit of the Assam police and will be produced in court today,” he said.

The alleged assassination conspiracy was discovered after two members of the banned group were killed in an explosion while building homemade bombs at a house in West Bengal in eastern India last month.

Indian police say the militants were Bangladeshis and were using India as a safe haven to plan the attacks.

Mainly-Muslim Bangladesh has suffered three major army coups and two dozen smaller rebellions since gaining independence from Pakistan in 1971.