DHAKA, Oct 2: Security forces in Bangladesh have arrested Mufti Abdul Hannan, accused of leading the Bangladesh chapter of the Islamist militant group Harkatul Jihad, police said on Sunday.

They said Hannan had been in hiding since July 2000 after police found a powerful bomb, suspected of being planted by Harkatul Jihad activists, near a rally addressed by former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in western Kotalipara area.

On Saturday night, members of the elite Rapid Action battalion — made up of police and armed forces — arrested Hannan at a house in Dhaka’s Madhya Badda area and seized explosives and bomb-making materials.

He appeared before a court in the capital on Sunday, wearing a bullet-proof vest, witnesses said. Hundreds of people thronged outside to catch a glimpse of Hannan, they said.—Reuters