Dhaka, July 18 - Bangladesh authorities claim that an Indian militant arrested here has been living in the country since 1995 and has links with Pakistan-based terrorist groups as well as underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, media reports said Saturday.

Mufti Obaidullah, who was paraded before the media Friday, was described by Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Commissioner A.K.M. Shahidul Hoque as 'one of the most wanted Indian terrorists'.

Obaidullah, a veteran of the anti-Soviet war in Afghanistan, told interrogators that his task was to organise 'jihad' under instructions from Amir Reza, leader of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).

The Daily Star quoted Hoque as saying that Obaidullah had collaborated with Islamist militants in Jammu and Kashmir, and also participated in terror attacks in Indian cities.

Besides operating for the LeT since 1995, Obaidullah was working for absconding mafia don Dawood Ibrahim.

Obaidullah claimed to have been in hiding from Indian law.

'In 1994, Indian commandos went to West Bengal from Delhi by helicopters to arrest me but I managed to evade arrest and later left India,' Obaidullah told reporters.