A court in India today awarded life sentence to three Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh militants and 10 years' rigorous imprisonment to five other JMB members in a case relating to a bomb blast in Buddhist pilgrimage town of Bodh Gaya in eastern state of Bihar in 2018.

Special judge Gurvinder Singh Mehrotra announced the quantum of punishment for the eight JMB militants who were convicted on December 10, reports our New Delhi correspondent.

According to Lalan Prasad Singh, the counsel of National Investigation Agency which probed the case, and public prosecutor Pramod Kumar, life imprisonment was awarded to Ahmed Ali, Nur Alam, and Paigambar Sheikh.

Arif Hussain, Adil Sheikh, Dilawar Hussain, Mustafizur Rehman, and Abdul Karim were sentenced to 10 years in jail.

The eight convicts had confessed to their involvement in a bomb blast that took place in Bodh Gaya on January 19, 2018, a few hours after the Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama had left the spot after delivering a sermon.

Another accused, Md Zahidul Islam, had pleaded not guilty and his trial will take place separately.