Bangladesh hangs Islamist militant for killing judges in 2005

Asadul Islam Arif, a member of outlawed Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), has been hanged for the killing of two judges in Jhalakathi in a bomb attack in 2005.

Khulna Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 16 Oct 2016, 06:40 PM
Updated : 17 Oct 2016, 02:29 AM

He is the seventh JMB militant executed for the attack carried out 11 years ago.

Arif's death sentence was executed at Khulna District Jail at 10:30pm on Sunday, Jail Superintendent Kamrul Islam told bdnews24.com.

The body would be sent to his in-laws' house in Mollahat of Bagerhat district for burial later in the night, he added.

On Nov 14, 2005, senior assistant judges of Jhalakathi, Sohel Ahmed and Jagannath Pandey, were killed in the bomb attack on the microbus that was carrying them to the court.

The attacker Iftekhar Hossain Mamun, a court employee and another person were also injured in the bombing.

Arif and Iftekhar were sentenced to death in the case on May 29, 2006.

Top JMB leaders Shaykh Abdur Rahman, his brother Ataur Rahman Sunny and son-in-law Abdul Awal, Siddiqul Islam alias Bangla Bhai, and Khaled Saifullah alias Faruq were also sentenced to death in the verdict.

Six of the seven militants, except Arif, were executed on Mar 29, 2007.

On July 10 that year, Arif was arrested from Mymensingh. Later that year, he had challenged the lower court verdict at the High Court and later at the Supreme Court which upheld the death sentence.

His petition to review the death sentence was also scrapped in August this year.