Last year, six members of the banned Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh were indicted for the shooting of Kunio Hoshi, 65, in northern Rangpur district.

Five jailed suspects were brought to court Tuesday, where one was acquitted.

The sixth suspect, who remains on the run, was sentenced in absentia.

Security had been tightened in Rangpur city ahead of the verdict, with scores of police deployed near the court.

Although Daesh had claimed the killing, the government denied that the group has a presence in Bangladesh.

Hoshi had been headed to a grass farm project when he was shot dead at point-blank range by motorcycle-borne gunmen in October 2015, less than a week after an Italian aid worker was killed in Dhaka’s diplomatic zone.