Dhaka - A Dhaka court on Thursday charged the chief of a banned Islamist organization and 13 others for a concert bombing that killed 10 revellers eight years ago during a celebration of the Bengali New Year, officials said.

Mufti Abdul Hannan, the chief of the outlawed Harkat-ul-Jihad al Islami, and his followers were accused of murder and bombing after investigators found they were involved in the attack on April 14, 2001, at Raman Green, the prime site for the New Year celebrations.

The court rejected petitions from five of the accused who sought their release from the case while three others admitted their involvement in the attack.

Investigators of the Criminal Investigation Department in their report said the members of Harkat-ul-Jihad had carried the bombs to Ramna Park on the day of the bombings, entered the concert site disguised as decoration workers and detonated the bombs by remote control.

The perpetrators chose the New Year celebration for their attack because they believed such programmes are prohibited in Islam, the investigators said.(dpa)