A court in Bangladesh has sentenced 15 activists of Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh to 10 years rigorous imprisonment.

The Jamaatul Mujahideen is a banned group.

A court in northern Mymensingh delivered the verdict Sunday under the tough Emergency Powers Act 2007.

The officials said the convicts have been sent to Mymensingh jail and will be later transferred to different prisons.

Elite anti-crime Rapid Action Battalion arrested them from a hideout at Muktagachha area in Mymensingh in May after officials ordered an intensified security campaign to uproot the militant remnants following the March 30 execution of JMB chief Shaikh Abdur Rahman, his second in command Siddiqul Islam alias Bangla Bhai and four others.

Authorities have stepped up vigil to crush Islamist militants after intelligence that JMB remnants have regrouped under new leadership after execution of their six top leaders.