10 Manipuri men arrested in Bangladesh

Ten suspected Manipuri men, including six from India, were arrested during an operation by the Bangladesh Army against criminal hideouts.

Ten suspected Manipuri men, including six from India, were arrested on Friday, during an operation by the Bangladesh Army against criminal hideouts, said officials.

Security officials said, acting on a tip-off, the army cordoned off the Kalghata area in the southwest hilly district of Bandarban on Thursday night and raided several villages in search of criminals early on Friday.

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The army arrested the 10 men from the house of one RK Khabbal and from a farmhouse surrounded by forest.

The identities of the arrested were not disclosed.

Officials said the arrested men took shelter in the district following the death of six Indian Manipuri nationals in a gun battle with paramilitary troopers and elite Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) at Madhabpur in Habiganj district.

Bangladesh's paramilitary troopers and RAB, in a massive operation against criminal hideouts near the India-Bangladesh border, killed six people in the north-eastern Moulvibazar district May 27.

Earlier, RAB gathered intelligence over two months on the movement of terrorists and smugglers of arms and explosives operating in border areas.

India says several guerrilla groups from its northeastern states like Manipur and Assam have bases in Bangladesh, a charge denied by Dhaka.