The High Court on Tuesday commuted the death sentences of seven members of the banned militant outfit Harkatul Jihad al-Islami (Huji) in the 2001 Ramna Batamul bombing case, which claimed the lives of 10 people during Pahela Baishakh celebrations in Dhaka.
The court reduced the death sentence of Huji leader Moulana Mohammad Tajuddin to life imprisonment, while each of the remaining seven condemned convicts was given 10 years rigorous imprisonment.
The seven whose sentences were commuted to 10 years are: Moulana Akbar Hossain, Hafez Jahangir Alam Badar, Moulana Abu Bakar, Mufti Shafiqur Rahman, and Mufti Abdul Hye.
Another key convict, Huji leader Shahadat Ullah Jewel, had his life term upheld by the court.
Additionally, the High Court reduced the life imprisonment sentences of three other Huji leaders 鈥� Abu Taher, Moulana Sabbir and Moulana Shawkat Osman 鈥� to 10 years rigorous imprisonment in connection with the conspiracy to carry out the attack.
Mufti Abdul Hannan, the top Huji leader, was among the eight who had initially been sentenced to death in the Ramna blast case. However, he was executed on April 12, 2017, in connection with a separate grenade attack targeting the then British High Commissioner to Bangladesh, Anwar Choudhury, in Sylhet.
A bench comprising Justice Mustafa Zaman Islam and Justice Nasreen Akter delivered Tuesday鈥檚 verdict after rejecting the death references of the eight Huji convicts and dismissing appeals filed by all 14 convicted militants. Among them, six had previously been sentenced to life imprisonment.
Deputy attorney general Sultana Akhter Rubi told reporters that the state would file an appeal against the reduction of sentences for the 11 surviving convicts.
