5 radical Islamists jailed in Bangladesh over 2005 blasts

10 years in jail after being found guilty of carrying out a series of explosions to demand Shariah law in the Muslim-majority nation.

A court in Bangladesh has sentenced five alleged radical Islamists to 10 years in jail 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 sentenced the members of the banned Jumatul Mujahedeen Bangladesh group on Monday.

Set off hundreds of bombs simultaneously

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 the 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.