Two persons from Murshidabad who were allegedly part of a terror module spread across the country and involved in a plot to kill leaders in Bengal have been arrested, police said.

The men, who the police said were operating at the behest of the Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), a banned terror outfit, were rounded up early on Wednesday.

The ABT is an affiliate of the al-Qaeda, officers involved in busting the alleged terror module said.

Altogether, eight men, including a Bangladeshi, were arrested in raids in three states — Bengal, Kerala and Assam — on Tuesday night and early on Wednesday. The operations were carried out by the special task force of the Assam police, helped by the Bengal police and the Kerala police.

The Bangladeshi national, identified as Mohammad Sad Radi, alias Shab Seikh, 36, had entered India in November and visited Bengal and Assam to connect with sleeper cells of the Ansarullah Bangla Team, officers of the Assam police’s special task force said.

He was arrested in Kerala.

The police have started a case against the accused under several sections, including that of waging war against the nation and unauthorised possession of an Indian passport.

The two accused arrested in Murshidabad are Minarul Sheikh, 40, a resident of Magura village, and Mohammad Abbas Ali, 33, from Hariharpara.

Officers in the Assam police said two of the suspected terrorists arrested in the northeastern state had made multiple visits to Murshidabad and Falakata in Alipurduar district to meet members of sleeping cells and plot operations.

A statement issued by the Assam police said: “Several meetings were organised in Murshidabad and Falakata, Bengal, where participants, including Nur Islam Mandal and his associates, deliberated extensively on targeting members of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and other Hindu organisations. During these meetings, they devised plans to assassinate prominent religious and Hindu leaders. The motive behind these actions was to incite religious tensions and disturbances, aiming to disrupt communal harmony and destabilise the region.”

The police said the terror network was growing rapidly, recruiting new members and setting up sleeper cells across the country to carry out subversive activities in India.