A Dhaka court on Wednesday sent actor Md Ashraful Haque Don to jail after his five-day remand ended in a case filed over the 1996 death of film star Salman Shah.
Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Md Jewel Rana passed the order after CID Inspector Mujibur Rahman, the investigation officer, produced Don before the court and sought an order to keep him in jail.
Prosecution Department SI Shah Alam said there was no application from Don’s side.
“There was no application from the accused’s side. The court ordered that he be sent to jail,” he said.
Don was arrested by immigration police at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on August 9 and later handed over to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).
On August 20, Inspector Mujibur Rahman sought seven days’ remand for Don. After a hearing on August 27, the court granted five days’ remand.
According to the investigation officer’s application, Don was a close friend of Salman Shah and acted with him in several films between 1992 and September 6, 1996.
The application said Don acknowledged knowing the absconding accused named in the case but concealed important information about the incident.
It said Don, who regularly moved around with Salman Shah, was aware of information concerning him. The investigator also said Don’s behavior and movements before, during and after the incident provided information and evidence indicating his possible involvement.
The application said Don could be questioned again with the court’s permission if necessary and sought his detention until the investigation is completed.
Case history
The case was filed on October 20 last year by Mohammad Alamgir Kumkum on behalf of Salman Shah’s mother, Nila Chowdhury.
Salman Shah, whose real name was Chowdhury Mohammad Shahriar Emon, died at his flat in Eskaton, Dhaka, on September 6, 1996.
His father, Kamar Uddin Ahmed Chowdhury, initially filed an unnatural death case but later alleged that his son had been murdered and sought to have it converted into a murder case.
The CID investigated the allegation and submitted a final report in 1997 saying Salman Shah had died by suicide. A judicial inquiry in 2014 also rejected the murder allegation.
Nila Chowdhury continued pursuing the case and sought further investigation. RAB was assigned to investigate in 2016 but was later ordered to stop. The case was subsequently handed to the Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI).
The PBI submitted its final report in February 2020, saying it found no evidence of murder after analyzing statements from 54 witnesses and reviewing seized evidence. It concluded that Salman Shah had died by suicide following mental anguish linked to family disputes.
Nila Chowdhury rejected the report and sought further investigation.
On October 20 last year, Dhaka’s 6th Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge Mohammad Jannatul Ferdous Ibn Haque allowed her revision petition and ordered Ramna Model Police Station to investigate the murder allegation and file a case.
The case alleges that the accused named in the first information report, along with unidentified absconding accused, conspired to kill Salman Shah on September 6, 1996.