Ex-JMB commander jailed for 20 years in Ctg

A Chattogram court today sentenced a former commander of banned militant outfit Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) to 20 years' imprisonment in two cases filed under the Explosives Substances Act and the Anti-Terrorism Act.

The convict is Ershad Hossain alias Mamun of Dinajpur district.

Judge of the Chattogram Additional Session Judge Court-4, Shariful Alam Bhuiya announced the verdict.

The court also fined him Tk 20,000, in default, of which he will have to serve one year more in jail.

According to the prosecution, police arrested Ershad from a house in Akbar Shah area and seized some explosives, bomb-making materials and some books from his possession on March 23, 2015.

Sub-inspector of Akbar Shah Police Station Shahidur Rahman filed two separate cases against him under the Explosives Substance Act and the Anti-Terrorism Act.

On April 8, 2016, police submitted chargesheets against him in the two cases.

The court also acquitted three persons -- Bulbul Ahmed Sarkar alias Fuad, 26, Md Sujon, 24 and Mahabubur Rahman alias Khokon, 35, -- as allegations brought against them could not be proved.