A member of banned militant outfit Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh has been executed in Gazipur'sKashimpur central jail, sources have said. Asaduzzaman Panir alias Asad (37), a JMB member from Mymensingh, was convicted over his involvement in a bomb blast that claimed eight at least lives in 2005 in Netrakona. Asad was hanged at 11pm on Thursday in the presence of Gazipur district’s Executive Magistrate, and representatives of the Civil Surgeon's office and Metropolitan Police, as well as the convict’s family members. Also read: JMB member Abdur Rahman arrested in Savar Hangman Shahjahan carried out the execution and Dr Ashif Rahman Ivan from the Civil Surgeon's office pronounced Asad dead minutes later. Sources said Asad was sentenced to death in connection with the bomb blast at cultural organisation Udichi and Shatadal’s office in Netrakona on December 8, 2005, that left eight people dead and 40 injured. Cases were subsequently filed against Asad under the Explosive Substances Act. In one of the cases filed at Netrakona police station, the Dhaka speedy trial tribunal court sentenced him and other two other accused -- Salauddin alias Sohel and Younus Ali -- to death on February 17, 2008. Also read: Series bomb blasts: Sylhet JMB leader gets life term Other two convicts in the case, JMB leader Siddiqur Rahman alias Bangla Bhai and Ataur Rahman Sani, were already executed in another case. The court had also sentenced Asad to 20 years in jail in another case under the Explosive Substances Act lodged at Netrakona police station in 2005 and also to 10 and 20 years in prison in two other cases filed at Kotwali police station.

Anti-Terrorism Unit (ATU), a specialized wing of Bangladesh Police,  arrested an alleged leader of banned militant outfit Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh  (JMB) from near Jamuna Future Park in the city on Wednesday.