Jamaat leader ATM Azhar jailed in sabotage case

A Dhaka court on Tuesday convicted and sentenced 11 people including former assistant secretary general of Jamaat-e-Islami ATM Azharul Islam to two-year jail in a sabotage case filed with the capital's Motijheel Police Station.

The other 10 convicts are- Mobarak Hossain, Hasan Al Mamun, Abu Taher Mejbah, Jahangir, Ibrahim, Saiful Islam, Jarif, Abul Kashem, Ashrafuzzaman and Redwan.

Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Rajesh Chowdhury pronounced the judgment in the presence of Azhar as police produced him before the court. The other 10 convicts, however, are yet to be arrested and were tried in absentia.

Confirming the news to BSS, defence counsel Adv Abdur Razzaq said the convicts were sentenced to one and a half years of jail under section 435 and six months more under section 143 of the penal code.

Police filed the case in November 2010, and later filed a charge sheet against 18 including the Jamaat leader.