Shillong, Aug 10 (IANS) Security forces arrested the fifth Bangladeshi national on Sunday, allegedly involved in the armed attack in a Meghalaya village along the India-Bangladesh border in the state’s South West Khasi Hills district, police said.

A police official said that the fifth suspect identified as Mubarak Hussain was arrested during a search operation jointly conducted by the Meghalaya Police and the BSF in the Chibak forest area.

Hussain was part of a gang of eight to nine armed Bangladeshi men, which crossed over into Rongdangai village on August 7 midnight, assaulted a local shopkeeper Balsrang Marak, and looted cash and valuables before fleeing back towards the border, the official added.

The Bangladeshi gang kidnapped Marak and they took him towards New Rongdangai village.

While moving, Marak was able to free himself and he ran away from the Bangladeshi gang’s captivity.

Villagers, along with security personnel, later chased and caught four of them, they added.

According to the police, a Bangladesh Police identity card, three medical prescriptions, three wireless handsets, an axe, a barbed-wire cutter, screw driver, pistol holster, a small knife, three micro-explosives, three wallets four mobile phones, steel handcuff, three micro explosives and Bangladeshi and Indian currencies were recovered from the area.

The gang leader, a Bangladesh Police constable Mefus Rehman (35), sustained injuries during confrontation with villagers and BSF personnel and is currently under medical treatment.

The arrested Bangladeshi nationals are residents of Comilla, Jamalpur and Narayanganj districts.

Efforts are on to trace the remaining Bangladeshi attackers, the official said.

Meghalaya Police, along with the BSF troops, have been conducting a massive search along the India-Bangladesh frontiers.

Large stretches of the 443 km India-Bangladesh border with Meghalaya remained unfenced due to various reasons, including difficult terrain, water bodies, forests, and mountains.

However, border fencing work is underway in some portions to prevent cross-border crime, infiltration and movement of inimical elements.

Police suspect that the Bangladesh intruders might have crossed through these porous areas by swimming water bodies or using underground culverts.

Meanwhile, on August 7 early morning, eight suspected Bangladeshi nationals entered a stone quarry at Bagli, also in the same South West Khasi Hills district.

Police immediately launched a search operation after receiving information, but the intruder managed to escape.

–IANS

sc/khz