Two members of Islamic extremist group Ansarullah Bangla Team were arrested Tuesday for allegedly plotting to kill prominent Bangladeshi actor and filmmaker Khijir Hayat Khan.
Members of Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Crime unit (CTTC) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police arrested Md Emdadul Islam alias Mehedi Hasan and Abu Bakar from Dhaka's Banani area early Tuesday morning, police said.
Police said the two belonged to homegrown militant outfit Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), blamed for a series of murders of secular activists, writers and bloggers since 2013, the Daily Star reported.
The group is believed to be linked with Al-Qaeda in the Indian Sub-continent (AQIS).
The ABT men created a group on Telegram messenger app and contacted with each other to plan the murder of Hayat, one of the script writers Mr Bangladesh', a film about thwarting terrorists that hit cinemas last month.
The two also visited Hayat's village in Cumilla several times to murder him, the CTTC members claimed.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)