Indian police have arrested a 36-year-old woman suspected of being involved in a plot to assassinate the prime minister Sheikh Hasina and carry out a coup, police said on Saturday.

The arrest comes days after Indian security officials said they had uncovered a plot by members of the Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen, accused of carrying out scores of attacks in Bangladesh, targeting Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

The group also planned to assassinate the country's main opposition leader, Khaleda Zia, Indian officials said. Hasina and Zia have dominated Bangladeshi politics for more than a decade.

Pallab Bhattacharjee, additional director general of police in the northeastern Indian state of Assam, said the woman had been also charged with collecting arms with an intention of waging war against India.

"She has been arrested by the special operations unit of the Assam Police and will be produced in court today," he said.

The alleged assassination conspiracy was discovered after two members of the outlawed group were killed in an explosion while building homemade bombs at a house in West Bengal in eastern India last month.

Indian police say the militants were Bangladeshis and were using India as a safe haven to plan the attacks.

Mainly-Muslim Bangladesh has suffered three major army coups and two dozen smaller rebellions since gaining independence from Pakistan in 1971.

Reuters/QH