Death penalty upheld for six Bangladeshi militants

Dhaka, July 28 (IANS) Death sentences awarded to six militants were upheld on Thursday over the deadly bombings in 2005 at a Bangladeshi court that killed eight people including four lawyers.

The High Court Division bench delivered the verdict. The six militants, Enayet Ullah, Arifur Rahman, Saidur Rahman Munsi, Abdullah Al Sohain, Nizam Uddin Reza and Taibur Rahman Hassan, were affiliated with the banned Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), Xinhua news agency reported.

The bench also ordered life imprisonment to two others and acquitted two.

According to case details, the gang detonated bombs at a Bar Association office at the Gazipur court premises on November 29, 2005.

The blasts killed the association's General Secretary Amzad Hossain, lawyers Golam Faruque, Nurul Huda and Anwarul Azim as well as four clients.

A speedy trial tribunal in June 2013 sentenced 10 JMB operatives to death.

The JMB, which seeks Islamic rule in Bangladesh, carried out a series of bomb attacks in 63 of the country's 64 districts, including Dhaka, on August 17, 2005.