Police arrest suspected IS 'coordinator' in Bangladesh

DHAKA - Police in Bangladesh arrested a suspected member of Islamic State (IS) in Dhaka, a senior officer said on Sunday, following the detention days earlier of two other suspects, including an IT manager at a subsidiary of Coca-Cola Co.

The suspect picked up on Saturday night was a coordinator for IS in Bangladesh, Shaikh Nazmul Alam, a deputy commissioner of Detective and Criminal Intelligence Division, told Reuters.

"We arrested him with hundreds of training related videos for Islamist extremists, and also a large number of books on al Qaeda and IS translated into Bangla," Alam said.

Police said the detained man was Abdullah Al Galib, a former member of Hizbut Tahrir, and a follower of Ansarullah Bangla Team, two militant Islamist groups in Bangladesh.

"We have been following him for a long time and arrested him yesterday night from Banani, a posh area of the city," Alam said.

Police have arrested more than a dozen people suspected of links with Islamic State, amid growing fears that the group could be extending its influence among Muslims in South Asia.