Bangladesh Islamiststo hang for Sufi murder

DHAKA: Seven Islamists were sentenced to death Sunday in Bangladesh for the murder of a Sufi shrine caretaker in 2015, at the height of a wave of attacks which swept the South Asian country. The defendants were convicted by a special court in the northern city of Rangpur where the killing took place, according to prosecutor Ratish Chandra Bhowmik. “All seven are members of JMB (Jamayetul Mujahideeen Bangladesh),” Bhowmik told AFP, referring to a homegrown Islamist group. “Six of the convicts were in the court. Another convict was sentenced in absentia,” he said, adding the defendant remained at large. Two further suspects had been killed in a shootout with security forces since the murder, Bhowmik added.