Indian Police Foil Alleged Plot To Assassinate Bangladesh's Prime Minister

Police in the Indian state of Assam Saturday arrested a woman suspected of being involved in the plot to assassinate Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Reuters reported. The arrested woman is believed to be associated with Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen, a militant group active in Bangladesh, the news agency indicated.

“She has been arrested by the special operations unit of the Assam police and will be produced in court today,” said Pallab Bhattacharjee, additional director general of police in Assam. He added the 36-year-old woman had been charged with “collecting arms with an intention of waging war against India,” Reuters reported.

The arrest was made after Indian security officials unearthed a plot to assassinate Hasina, who has been in office since 2009 and had previously served as the country’s prime minister from 1996 to 2001. Militants were also seeking to target Khaleda Zia, the leader of the main opposition party in Bangladesh, Indian officials said.

The arrest came just days after a Bangladeshi war-crimes court handed down a death sentence to Motiur Rahman Nizami, the leader of the Jamaat-e-Islami party, which is the country’s largest Islamist party. Becoming prominent in 2001, the Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen is believed to be the militant wing of the Jamaat-e-Islami -- itself an offshoot of the Pakistani Jamaat-e-Islami.