A court in Rangamati today convicted five members of the banned Islamist outfit Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) and sentenced them to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment each for their involvement in a bomb attack in 2005.

Additional District and Sessions Judge Azizul Haque handed down the verdict in the morning in a packed courtroom as he found Obaidur Rahman Prakash Khayer, Mohammad Ariful Islam, Mohammad Aiyub Ali, Abdul Hafiz and Jabed Iqbal guilty.

The court acquitted a sixth defendant- Mohammad Ruhul Amin -- as charges against him could not be proved.

According to prosecution, several bombs went off in front of Rangamati Press Club, Reserve Bazar Chowmuhani and Banarupa area on August 17, 2005 as part of JMB's violent campaign in 63 districts across the country to demand introduction of sharia laws by replacing largely secular legal system, which is based on British common law.