5 radical Islamists jailed in Bangladesh over 2005 blasts

NEW DELHI – A court in Bangladesh sentenced five alleged radical Islamists to 10 years in jail on Monday after finding them guilty of carrying out a series of explosions in 2005 to demand Shariah law in the Muslim-majority nation.

Police Inspector Mominul Islam said the court in Rangamati district in southeastern Bangladesh delivered the sentences to the members of the banned Jumatul Mujahedeen Bangladesh group. One defendant was acquitted because the charges against were not proven, he said.

The group is accused of exploding hundreds of homemade bombs across the country almost simultaneously in August 2005 to press their campaign for Shariah law in a country where the legal system is based on British common law.

Later in 2005, the group launched attacks on police, courts and individuals that left more than two dozen people dead. Six leaders of the group accused of involvement in the attacks were hanged in 2007.

Authorities say the group has regrouped in recent months after a number of attacks left several people, including two foreigners, dead in 2015.

The group has also been accused of attacking minority Shiite and Ahmadiya groups.

Dozens of alleged members have been arrested in recent months in connection with the 2015 attacks.