JMB leader Aziz gets life term in 2005 series bomb attack
Some 29 cases were filed in four districts of Sylhet division. The trial of most of these cases has not been completed
A Sylhet court has sentenced Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) leader Maulana Abdul Aziz alias Hanif to lifetime imprisonment in connection with the 2005 series bomb attack at the Kadamtali central bus terminal.
Sylhet District Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge Muminun Nesa pronounced the verdict on Sunday after a lengthy trial.
The charges were framed on 26 May in 2014 under the Special Powers Act.
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Jubayer Bakht, the state's prosecutor in the case, said, "Abdul Hajiz, is already in jail. He was produced in court on Sunday."
According to court and police sources, on 17 August in 2005, JMB militants detonated bombs at 29 spots, including 13 in Sylhet, five each in Sunamganj, Habiganj and Moulvibazar.
At 11:15am on the same day, militants blasted bombs in 13 places of the Sylhet district including Adalatpara in the city, under the stairs of the deputy commissioner's office, Shahi Eidgah, Nayasarak, Kadamtali bus terminal, a nursery in Lamabazar.
Judge Biplob Goswami of the Sylhet Speedy Trial Tribunal, his driver, a candidate, a nursery owner and 15 pedestrians were injured in the bombings. However, no one was killed in the attack in Sylhet.
The police filed separate cases under the Explosives Act with Special Powers for each bomb attack.
Some 29 cases were filed in four districts of Sylhet division. The trial of most of these cases has not been completed.
Most of the cases are currently at the testimony stage. Some cases are still pending in court. Moreover, two militants were sentenced to 10 years in prison in a case in Sunamganj.
Around 500 bomb explosions occurred at 300 locations in 63 out of the 64 districts of Bangladesh on 17 August in 2005.
The bombs exploded within a half-hour period starting from 11:30 am. Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) claimed responsibility for the bombings, that killed at least one person, injured at least 44 more and sowed panic across the country.
