(AFP) 13 February 2010,

DHAKA - Bangladesh coast guards have arrested eight citizens of Myanmar on suspicion of spying for the military-ruled country, police said Saturday.

The suspects were picked up from a boat docked at Shah Parir island near the Myanmar border late Thursday and photos of Bangladesh Navy warships and security installations were seized, local police chief Shakhawat Hossain said.

“All eight are Myanmar citizens and have been detained on suspected spying charges. Coast guards also found a sensitive letter in the boat,” he told AFP. He said the eight were being questioned by police, navy and coast guard officers.

Relations between the neighbours have soured since late 2008 after Bangladesh and Myanmar sent their warships to a disputed stretch of the Bay of Bengal believed to contain big reserves of oil and gas.

The sea territory between the two nations has not been demarcated and both claim the stretch of the Bay of Bengal as their own.