A Khulna Court on January 18 sentenced five cadres of outlawed Purbo Banglar Communist Party-Jonojuddho (PBCP-Jonojuddho) to life imprisonment in a case filed in connection with the murder of Ekushey Padak recipient and journalist Humayun Kabir Balu in 2004, reports The Daily Star. The convicts are: Syed Iqbal Hossain alias Swadhin, Nazul alias Ripon alias Nazul Islam alias Khora Nazul, Masum alias Jahangir, Rimon alias Asaduzzaman and Zahid Hossain alias Sabuj alias Zahidur Rahman. Zahid, Nazul, Rimon and Swadhin were present in the court, while another convict Jahangir is on the run. Balu was the editor of local ‘Dainik Janmabhumi’ and president of Khulna Press Club. He was bombed to death while entering his office-cum-residence on Haji Meher Ali road in Khulna city on June 27, 2004.