Dhaka, Nov 16 (IANS) Bangladesh has handed over three Pakistanis, suspected of planning attacks on the Indian and the US missions here, to the Pakistan embassy, a media report said.
Syed Abdul Kaiyum Azhari alias Sufian, 22, Mohammad Ashraf alias Zahid, 24, and Mohammad Monwar Ali, 30, were arrested for their suspected links to Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), a banned Pakistan-based group.
They were freed from prison on the directives of the home ministry.
‘The jail authorities freed them following a negotiation between the foreign ministries of the two countries,’ Senior Superintendent of Dhaka Central Jail Towhidul Islam told The Daily Star newspaper.
‘The assistant consular of the Pakistan embassy and a protocol officer received the three Pakistani men,’ the official said of the exchange that took place last Saturday.
The report said a team of detectives arrested the Pakistanis Nov 13 from the city’s Uttara locality for their alleged affiliation with LeT in a plot to attack the US embassy and Indian high commission in Dhaka.
However, bdnews24.com, a news website, said they were arrested in 2009 and one of them was recruiting local activists.
A police official said the Pakistani men held valid passports and visas but could not show any work permit or explain the source of funds for their living expenses.
