Jahangirnagar University Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Mohammad Kamrul Ahsan has claimed that news items mentioning his presence during the beating of former Chhatra League leader Shamim Ahmed Mollah at the Proctor’s Office on September 18 are false and motivated.
Speaking at an emergency press conference organized at the university's administrative building yesterday, he termed Shamim’s death untimely and the legal actions unprecedented.
Shamim, a student of the 2009-10 academic year (39th batch) of the university, died at a local hospital in Savar after being beaten up severely on the campus for several hours on that day—starting from the PrantiK Gate to the Proctor’s Office and the adjacent security section.
Several coordinators and activists of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement and Chhatra Dal were seen in videos encouraging and torturing Shamim, blaming him for his involvement in the attack on protesters on July 15 and alleged drug peddling and extortion. Videos of the assaults and celebrations of the students have gone viral on social media.
Two days after his death, the university authorities formed a probe body, suspended eight students, including coordinator Labib Ahsan and Chhatra Dal activist Hamidullah Salman. They were also made accused in a murder case filed by the university.
Prof Kamrul was appointed the VC of the university on September 5. He is the president of the university’s Nationalist Teachers' Forum.
At the press conference, he said: "I instructed the proctor to take the cooperation of the police as soon as I learnt about the incident. However, after realizing the seriousness, I reached the Proctor's Office around 7:20pm. I found that the police had not yet arrived at the scene. I immediately contacted the police again and requested they come quickly.
"I saw that the angry students who beat Shamim Mollah were removed from the area, and his safety was ensured by installing a new lock on the collapsable gate of the security section. The police arrived at the scene shortly after that. I directed the proctor to hand him over to the police without further delay. Then I left the scene. So, the matter of beating him in my presence is not true.'
According to witnesses, some students, mostly Chhatra Dal activists, broke open the collapsable gate and beat up Shamim Molla mercilessly with sticks, iron rods and cricket stumps, leaving him seriously injured.
The VC continued that the news about his meeting with the former general secretary of JU unit Chhatra Dal, Abu Saeed Bhuiyan, was completely false and baseless.
Prof Kamrul said: “After reaching the Proctor's Office, many former students met with me because of my appointment as the VC. Later, I was confirmed that Abu Saeed Bhuiyan was among them. However, we did not talk about the beating of Shamim Molla.”
Terming the legal steps unprecedented, the VC said: "Several news media mentioned the negligence of the university administration in the case of Shamim Molla's death. A vested interest group is intentionally spreading misinformation against the administration.
“However, the university administration immediately expressed grief over Shamim Mollah's death. Apart from this, an investigation committee was formed within 24 hours, and some people were identified based on the preliminary investigation, and action was taken according to the rules of the university.
“Also, subject to further investigation, it was directed to identify the real culprits and submit the investigation report. On that day, a case was filed by the university against the initially identified accused. In this case, decisions have been taken at such a fast speed, which is unprecedented in the university.”
The eight students suspended on September 20 are Md Rajon Mia (46th batch, Department of Government and Politics), Raju Ahmed (45th batch, same department), Mahmudul Hasan Raihan (50th batch, Department of English), Jubayer Ahmed (44th batch, Department of History), Hamidullah Salman (49th batch, Department of English), Atikuzzaman Atik (49th batch, Department of Management Studies), Sohag Mia (47th batch, Department of Computer Science and Engineering) and Ahsan Labib (49th batch, Department of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering).
On September 21, the university authorities issued a correction notice, dropping Jubayer’s name and including Saiful Islam of the 52nd batch (Department of Pharmacy).
Of the accused, Raihan of the 50th batch was arrested on September 21. The next day, he confessed to taking part in the torture at Dhaka’s Chief Judicial Magistrate’s Court of Md Julhas Uddin. After recording his statement, the court sent him to jail.