We are shocked and grief-stricken by the death of Shumon Zahid, the son of martyred intellectual Selina Parvin. He was precious to us for being part of a generation of men and women whose fathers or mothers gave up their lives for the sake of the country's freedom. And he was crucial for this nation as he was a war crimes witness who testified against war criminals Chowdhury Mueen Uddin and Ashrafuzzaman Khan.

His body was found on the rail tracks on June 15 in Khilgaon, only a kilometre from his home. The police have stated that it was probably a case of suicide but his family members maintain that he was murdered. Being an important witness in the war crimes trial, he had often received death threats, obviously from those who did not want him to testify against those war criminals. According to a family member, Shumon had received a phone call in the morning after which he left his house and his body was found a couple of hours later.

While we can do nothing but grieve over the irreparable loss of his life, we demand that the police carry out a thorough investigation to find out the truth instead of jumping to premature conclusions regarding the cause of his death.

We extend our deepest condolences to the bereaved family of Shumon Zahid.