DHAKA: The Bangladesh police arrested another alleged member of the Lashkar-e-Taiba here on Saturday, raising fears of a growing terrorist network. Abu Motaleb was nabbed following information given by the three Lashkar members arrested on November 13. Motaleb allegedly picked up militants from Bangladesh and sent them to India and Afghanistan after training them. He also took part in the Afghan war from 1987 to 1990.

Many suspected Lashkar members — most of them Pakistani and Indian nationals — have been arrested across Bangladesh during the last several weeks.

Bangladesh authorities believe 20 more Lashkar-e-Taiba operatives of Indian and Pakistani nationalities are in the country to build a strong militant network.

Officials investigating the reported Lashkar plot to attack the Indian and U.S. embassies in Dhaka have found that the Pakistan-based militant group is recruiting cadres from among the Rohingya refugees from Myanmar.

Investigators have also learned that the operatives get financial backing from some contraband medicine traders in the capital. They believe a Pakistani national posing as a ‘Stranded Pakistani’ — Urdu-speaking ‘Bihari’ — may be involved in the Lashkar operations