Four Pakistanis among them

Detectives claimed to have arrested seven Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) members, including four Pakistanis, in the capital's airport area on Friday night.

The arrested Pakistani citizens are Idris Ali, Mohammad Shakil, Khalilur Rahman and Mohammad Iqbal. The Bangladeshis are Babul Khan, Mohammad Farman and Shahid.

Around 27,000 Pakistani rupees, seven Pakistani and Bangladeshi passports, seven mobile phone sets and several jihadi books were seized from their possession, detectives said.

Joint Commissioner of Detective Branch of Dhaka Metropolitan Police Monirul Islam yesterday at a press briefing said the arrestees were involved in militant and subversive activities in the country.

They were also involved in fake currency business, he told the briefing at the DMP media centre.

The police official claimed that the arrestees funded religious extremism with the earnings through the fake currency business.

They were trying to rebuild their network in the country and topple the government through subversive activities, Monirul claimed.

He said they frequently visited Pakistan for their business purpose.

"We are quizzing them to know if they were involved in the recent attacks or murders in the country," the joint commissioner said.

After the arrest of JMB chief Saidur Rahman in May 2010, the militant outfit broke into several groups, and the arrestees are members of one such faction, Monirul said.

Meanwhile, a Dhaka court placed the arrestees on a three-day remand each in connection with a case filed against them with Airport Police Station. The police had sought 10 days to grill them.

Police arrested a number of Pakistani citizens in the country at different times and seized a huge amount of fake Indian rupees from their possession.