Anwar Hossain Manju sentenced

DHAKA (Reuters) - A Bangladesh court on Tuesday sentenced a former minister to five years in jail for possessing banned alcoholic drinks, court officials said.

The court also ordered former communication minister Anwar Hossain Manju to pay a fine of 10,000 taka ($145) or serve an additional six months in jail. The sentence was passed in his absence as he has been missing since March when police seized 22 bottles of Scotch whisky and several cans of beer during a search of his residence.

Manju, owner of Bangladesh's leading newspaper chain, the Ittefaq Group of Publications, served in the cabinet of former president Hossain Mohammad Ershad from 1982 to 1990.

He is the younger brother of Mainul Hosein, adviser to the interim government and head of the law ministry.