JU students demand capital punishment for ASP Shipon’s killers

Jahangirnagar University (JU) students have demanded capital punishment for those who beat Senior Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Anisul Karim Shipon to death in the name of mental health treatment on 9 November.

Former and incumbent students of the university made the demand at a human chain formed in front of the Jatiya Press Club in the city on Friday.

"The video footage of Shipon being beaten up, in the name of providing treatment, clearly showed that he was killed in a brutal way. We are here with the demand of ensuring capital punishment for the killers of Shipon," said former president of JU unit Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) Mehedi Jamil, also senate member.

Jamil added that Shipon was a smart officer of Bangladesh Police. 

With reference to Shipon's death, the former BCL leader said there are a lot of individuals who fall victim to such brutal killings in the name of mental health treatment. 

Sometimes, they are also held for ransom, Jamil said, adding: "We ask the government to shut all the illegitimate healthcare centres mushrooming across the country."     

He demanded formation of a speedy trial tribunal to ensure the immediate and appropriate punishment for the culprits and stop the unlawful operation of all hospitals and clinics.

Mehedi, also an assistant secretary to the central subcommittee of Awami League, vowed to continue the protest until their demands are fulfilled through proper investigation.

Another JU Senate Member Ashish Kumar Majumder underscored the need for determining the reasons behind Anisul's mental complications.

Barrister Shihab Uddin Khan, also a JU senate member and Jahangirnagar University Lawyers' Association (JULA) general secretary, announced that the JULA will provide all legal support free of cost to the family of Shipon to get justice.

Prof Shahadat of JU Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Department, former JU Journalists' Association president Kazi Jakir Hossain, first female Bangladeshi Referee of FIFA Joya Chakma, former national player and JU Deputy Director (sports) SM Sadat Hossain, Dramatist Tuhin Reza, former JU BCL leaders – Nur Hossain Saikat, Maksur Rahman, Sohel Parvez, Shafinul Islam, Rashed Reza Diken, Rajib Ahmed Rasel , Golam Mujtaba Dhubo, and Nabila Nohat Choity, among others, were present at the human chain, alongside hundreds of Shipon's fellow graduates.

Anisul, a police officer of the 31st special BCS and a former student (33rd batch) of JU Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Department, had been suffering from mental complications.

He went to Mind Aid Hospital in the capital's Adabor area, seeking admission for treatment, but died before the admission procedure had ended. CCTV footage shows that some hospital staff physically assaulted Anisul after they took him inside a room.

Anisul's father Faijuddin Ahmed filed a murder case with Adabor Police Station on Tuesday, accusing 15 people, including five shareholders of the hospital.

Police have already arrested 12 of the 15 accused in the case while 10 of them have been put on seven-day remand over the incident.