E/CN.4/1992/17 page 8 under the State Security Decree. During this period he was not permitted to appoint a lawyer and, during the first two years, his family was not permitted to visit him. He was reportedly subjected to severe beating, in particular on his head and nose, which caused a fracture of a bone in the nose, and developed epilepsy; this illness affected his mental capacities and caused a periodic coma. Despite the medical treatment undergone, his health condition deteriorated and, on 20 May 1991, he died in the Salmaniya hospital. Bangladesh Letters and Government replies 28. On 27 November 1990 the Special Rapporteur sent a letter to the Government of Bangladesh transmitting information according to which Hasanul Karim alias Manik, a student leader aged 24 from Chittagong, and Chandan Kumar Bhowmik, were arrested on 21 May 1990, reportedly following an armed clash with police. It was alleged that following their arrest, they were taken to a nearby police camp where they were tortured and kicked, and that they were later transferred to Kotwali police station. On 22 May 1990 Manik 1 s father was informed that his son had died on the way to a hospital. The post-mortem report revealed that the cause of death was shock and haemorrhage of the brain. The injuries were said to have been caused by blunt weapons. Police later claimed that Manik died because of manhandling by the public at the time of his arrest, but this version was denied by eyewitnesses. 29. On 18 December 1990 the Government of Bangladesh replied, describing the violent incident in which Hasanul Karim and an accomplice were manhandled and injured by members of the public before they were arrested by police. The two were among a group who had allegedly opened fire indiscriminately with automatic weapons and exploded fire crackers on the court premises in order to snatch away two accused persons from police custody. Two policemen were seriously injured in that incident. Hasanul Karim was given first aid, but his condition later deteriorated and he had to be admitted to Chittagong Medical College Hospital, where he died of his wounds. The Minister for Home Affairs instructed the Criminal Investigation Department to investigate the case fully and submit a report. There had, however, been no proof or evidence regarding the death of Hasanul Karim due to police torture. The allegations concerning his death as the result of police brutality and torture were therefore completely misconceived, distorted and misleading and did not relate to the actual facts. 30. On 18 October 1991 the Special Rapporteur sent a letter to the Government of Bangladesh transmitting information concerning Manirul Murshed, a Bangladeshi asylum seeker in Sweden, who was forcibly returned to Bangladesh on 10 October 1990, after his application for asylum had been rejected by the Swedish authorities. On arrival at Dhaka airport he was arrested by airport police and during the 13 hours of his detention he was repeatedly beaten with a truncheon, including on the soles of his feet and his genitals, whipped with an electric cable and kicked. After being released he was examined by a doctor who confirmed that he had been severely tortured and that, as a result, his eyesight had been permanently damaged.