A Dhaka court on Thursday placed actor Ashraful Haque Don, who was arrested in connection with the murder case of film star Salman Shah, on a five-day remand for questioning.
Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Jewel Rana passed the order following a petition by the case’s investigating officer.
SI Shah Alam of the prosecution department confirmed the matter.
On August 20, CID Inspector Mujibur Rahman, investigating officer of the case, sought a seven-day remand for Don, citing three reasons. The court scheduled the hearing for Thursday in the presence of the accused.
Don was produced before the court on Thursday. Dhaka Metropolitan Public Prosecutor Omar Faruk argued in favour of the remand, while Dhaka Bar Association General Secretary Abul Kalam Azad and lawyer Faridul Islam, representing Don, sought bail and cancellation of the remand. They also requested that he be questioned in jail if necessary.
The court later granted a five-day remand.
Background
On October 20 last year, Salman Shah's brother, Mohammad Alamgir Kumkum, filed the case on behalf of their mother, Neela Chowdhury.
On September 6, 1996, film actor Salman Shah, whose real name was Chowdhury Mohammad Shahriar Emon, died at his flat in Eskaton, Dhaka. He was at the peak of his popularity in the Bangladeshi film industry at the time.
Following his son's death, Salman's father, Kamaruddin Ahmed Chowdhury, initially filed a case of wrongful death. However, on July 24, 1997, he sought to have it converted into a murder case, alleging that his son had been killed.
The court subsequently directed the CID to investigate the murder allegation alongside the wrongful-death case. On November 3, 1997, the CID submitted a final report stating that Salman Shah had died by suicide.
Rejecting the report, Kamaruddin filed a revision petition. On May 19, 2003, the court ordered a judicial inquiry.
After 11 years, Metropolitan Magistrate Imdadul Haque submitted the inquiry report on August 3, 2014, which also dismissed the murder allegation.
After Kamaruddin's death, Neela Chowdhury continued pursuing the case. On February 10, 2015, she objected to the judicial inquiry report and named 11 people whom she alleged could have been involved in her son's death.
The case was subsequently investigated by the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB). However, following a state objection, Judge Imrul Kayesh of Dhaka Special Judge Court-6 ordered RAB to stop investigating the case on August 21, 2016.
The Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) then took over the investigation and submitted its final report on February 25, 2020, after four years of investigation.
The PBI said it had analysed the statements of 54 witnesses and examined seized evidence but found no evidence supporting the murder allegation.
According to the PBI report, Salman Shah was suffering from family disputes linked to his relationship with actress Shabnur and mental distress over distancing himself from his mother, Nilufa Chowdhury alias Neela Chowdhury, due to his relationship with his wife, Samira Haque. The report concluded that he had died by suicide.
Neela Chowdhury rejected the report and sought further investigation into her son's death.
Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Mamunur Rashid accepted the PBI report and ordered the accused to be discharged on October 31, 2021.
Salman's family subsequently filed a revision petition before the Metropolitan Sessions Judge's Court, raising several objections.
On June 12, 2022, the Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge's Court admitted the revision petition, but the hearing was delayed for various reasons.
On October 20, the 6th Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge of Dhaka, Md Jannatul Ferdous Ibn Haque, allowed the revision petition filed by Salman Shah's mother concerning his death. The court ordered the filing of a murder case, attaching Kamaruddin's complaint and the statement of Rizvi Ahmed alias Farhad, who was allegedly involved in the incident, and directed Ramna Model Police Station to investigate and submit a report.
In the case, Mohammad Alamgir alleged that the accused named in the complaint, along with unidentified absconding suspects, had planned and conspired to kill Salman Shah on September 6, 1996.
