Five arrested in Bangladesh for New Year 'terror plot'

Dhaka: Five suspected operatives of Bangladesh's banned terror group JMB, whose new faction was blamed for the deadly cafe attack in July, have been arrested over plotting attacks on the New Year's Eve and 30 kgs explosives seized from them, police said today.

The five Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) 'operatives' were arrested from Darus Salam in Mirpur area here during a raid by the counterterrorism unit yesterday, Dhaka Metropolitan Police spokesperson Masudur Rahman said.

"In primary interrogation, the militants told us that they had planned to carry out attacks on the 31st night, during New Year celebrations," police's counterterrorism unit chief Monirul Islam said.

"We also seized 30 kg explosives from the militants," he told a media briefing.

Neo-JMB was behind the July 1 terror attack on the Dhaka cafe in which 22 people, including 17 foreigners, were killed. An Indian girl was among those killed in the country's worst terror attack.