Islamist militants threaten Bangladesh, police say

DHAKA (Reuters) - Islamist militants have threatened Indian interests in Bangladesh and the Bangladeshi attorney-general, police said on Tuesday, days after unidentified attackers bombed the car of a lawmaker from the ruling party.

Police said one threat was issued by outlawed Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) and the other by al Qaeda, both trying to establish Sharia-based Islamic rule. Police gave no further details.

The threats come as the Supreme Court hears appeals by former army officers who killed country's founding leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and most of his family in a 1975 rebellion.

Last week, unidentified attackers hit the car of Fazle Noor Tapas, a member of parliament from Hasina's Awami League and her nephew. Home Minister Sahara Khatun said the attack could have been by militants linked to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's killing.

Impoverished and densely populated Bangladesh was founded in 1971 from the former East Pakistan, itself born out of the partition of India in 1947.

The Home Ministry says there are hundreds of Islamist militants operating in predominantly Muslim Bangladesh, trying to turn the country into a Sharia-based Islamic state.

Islamist militants exploded at least 500 small bombs in simultaneous attacks across Bangladesh in 2005, but their top six commanders were captured and hanged in early 2007.

Bangladesh, which follows a secular constitution, has been battling hardline Islamist groups who have carried out a campaign of violence across the country. In recent months, law enforcement agencies have seized dozens of live grenades and a huge quantity of explosives from around the country.

(Reporting by Anis Ahmed; Editing by Nick Macfie)