Dhaka, December 29 (IANS) Hardcore militants lodged in a Bangladesh jail were shifted to different cells Saturday following a high alert issued after the killing of former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto in Rawalpindi.

Twenty-six militants at Chittagong Central Jail in southern Bangladesh were moved to separate cells. They included five convicted militants belonging to the banned Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), Star Online reported.

Jailer Iqbal Hossain said the visitors have been asked not to bring any bags or packets for any inmates at the jail gate.

Two platoons of riot police have been deployed in front of the jail. Additional police have been deployed and checkpoints set up elsewhere in the port city that is assessed as sensitive due to activities of proscribed militant outfits.

Dhaka issued a high alert following Bhutto's assassination in Rawalpindi last Thursday.

Bangladesh, earlier a part of Pakistan, separated after a violent struggle in 1971.