Dhaka, June 23 (IANS): A Bangladesh court Monday awarded death penalty to eight militants of a banned Islamist outfit, including its leader, for their involvement in a bomb blast in 2001.
The court also awarded life sentence to six other militants for the attack, which killed at least eight people at a Bengali New Year concert, bdnews24.com reported.
Harkat-ul-Jehad-al-Islami (HUJI) members led by its chief Mufti Abdul Hannan planned and carried out the attack in Ramna Park in Dhaka where thousands of people gathered to celebrate Bengali New Year April 14, 2001.
The country's Criminal Investigation Department Dec 30 last year pressed charges against HUJI chief Hannan, who is now under custody, and 13 others for committing the tragic incident.
Earlier in another case, Hannan and two others were sentenced to death for grenade attack on a British envoy in the country's northern Sylhet city in 2004.
Those sentenced to death, other than Hannan, were Maulana Akbar Hossain, Arif Hossain Sumon, Maulana Tajuddin, Hafiz Jahangir Alam Badr, Maulana Abu Bakr alias Hafiz Selim Hawladar, Maulana Abdul Hai and Maulana Shafiqur Rahman.
Shahadatullah Jewel, Maolana Sabbir, Shaokat Hossain alias Sheikh Farid, Maolana Abdur Rauf, Maolana Abu Taher and Maolana Yahia have been awarded life in prison.