Chattogram naval base bomb blasts: Five awarded death sentence

An anti-terror tribunal in Chattogram on Wednesday sentenced five members of banned militant outfit Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) to death in the Chattogram naval base bomb blasts case, reports news agency UNB.

The court of Chattogram anti-terrorism tribunal judge Abdul Halim pronounced the verdict against Abdul Mannan, Ramjan Ali, Bablu Rahman, Abdul Gaffar and M Shakhawat Hossain, a former member of the Bangladesh Navy. Among them, Shakhawat was tried in absentia.

According to the prosecution, 24 Muslim devotees sustained injuries when a number of bombs exploded at the two mosques inside the Isha Khan Base of the Bangladesh Navy on 18 December, 2015.

Local people managed to catch Mannan and Ramjan red-handed from the spot.

On 3 September, 2016, M Abu Syed, Marshal Commander of the Naval Provost of the Bangladesh Navy, lodged a complaint with EPZ Police.

Police subsequently registered a case under the Anti-Terrorism Act and the Explosive Act.

In 2017, police submitted a charge sheet against the five JMB men.

Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) detained Bablu from Jhenaidah district on 30 October, 2017, while Gaffar was arrested by police in another case. He was shown arrested in this case later.