Salman Shah: Case in the hands of CID, same agency that gave a 'suicide report'
Graphics: Agamir Somoy
Exactly 30 years ago, on September 6, 1996, popular film actor Salman Shah passed away. His family and fans could not accept his departure. They claim that Salman Shah was murdered. The case of unnatural death in this incident was initially investigated by the Police's Criminal Investigation Department (CID). After investigation, the agency reported that Salman Shah had committed suicide. However, after three decades of developments, the court has ordered it to be converted into a murder case.
Again, the investigation responsibility for the case now falls back to that very CID. However, the plaintiff's side says that although CID initially gave a 'suicide report,' the context is now different. It will not affect the investigation.
Plaintiff's lawyer Faruk Ahmed told Agamir Somoy, "Initially, in the unnatural death case, CID submitted a final report citing suicide. Now, under court orders, it has become a murder case. I now expect a proper investigation. Even though 30 years have passed since the murder, justice can still be served. In this regard, the autopsy report is not crucial. On the day of the murder, Salman and Samira were together. Samira must clarify the matter."
Salman Shah's mother Neela Chowdhury told Agamir Somoy, "I trust in Allah that we will get justice. We did not get justice because the Awami League government did not want it. Now Prime Minister Tareq Rahman's government has come, and the accused has been arrested. I hope that justice will be done under this government."
Interrogation of arrested Don begins today: The investigating agency will begin questioning Ashraful Haque Don, the only arrested accused in this case, after taking him on a five‑day remand. Today (Sunday), the investigating officer will take him from prison into their custody. Earlier, on August 9, immigration police arrested Don at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport. Later, he was handed over to CID. CID produced him in court and applied for his detention in jail. The court ordered Don to be sent to jail based on the application. Later, on August 27, the court granted a five‑day remand for his interrogation. He was sent to jail that day. However, although Don has been arrested in this case, 10 other accused, including Samira Haque, remain at large. A travel ban has been imposed to prevent them from fleeing.
The investigating officer of the case and CID Police Inspector Md. Mujibur Rahman said, "The accused Don has not yet been interrogated on remand. Tomorrow (today) he will be taken on remand and interrogated intensively. I cannot comment on this matter. However, you can speak to CID's media wing." When contacted multiple times to speak on this matter, CID's Special Superintendent of Police (Media) Shufi Ullah could not be reached.
According to the case details, on September 6, 1996, the body of film actor Salman Shah was recovered from his residence in Eskaton, Dhaka. At that time, Salman Shah's father, Kamaruddin Ahmad Chowdhury, initially filed an unnatural death case. Later, on July 24, 1997, an application was made to convert the complaint into a murder case. The court directed CID to investigate the matter. After investigation, CID submitted its final report to the court on November 3, 1997. The report described the incident as a suicide. Later, on November 25 of that year, the final report was accepted by the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's Court in Dhaka. However, Kamaruddin Ahmad filed a revision petition challenging the report.
Later, on May 19, 2003, the court sent the case for a judicial inquiry. After 11 years, on August 3, 2014, Metropolitan Magistrate Imdadul Haque submitted the judicial inquiry report to the court. That report also described Salman Shah's death as an unnatural death. Following the death of Kamaruddin Ahmad Chowdhury, his mother Neela Chowdhury was included as the plaintiff in the son's murder case. On February 10, 2015, she filed a petition of objection (naraji) against the judicial inquiry report in the Dhaka Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's Court.
Most recently, the case was investigated by the PBI (Police Bureau of Investigation). On October 31, 2021, the court accepted that report and disposed of the case. On June 12, 2022, a revision petition was filed against this order in the Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge's Court. After the revision hearing, on October 20 of last year, the court ordered the acceptance of the unnatural death case filed over Salman Shah's death as a murder case. Following this order, at midnight that day, on behalf of Salman Shah's mother Neela Chowdhury, her brother Mohammad Alamgir Kumkum filed a murder case as the plaintiff. The case named 11 people as accused, including former wife Samira Haque and villain actor Ashraful Haque Don. The other accused are— Samira Haque's mother Latifa Haque Lucy, businessman Aziz Mohammad Bhai, Debit, Javed, Faruk, Ruby, A. Sattar, Saju, and Rezvi Ahmed aka Farhad.
Omar Faruk Faruki, Public Prosecutor of the Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge's Court, said, "The people of the country want to see the mystery behind Salman Shah's death uncovered. However, during the fascist Hasina government's tenure, several false investigation reports were submitted. But rejecting those reports, a murder case has been filed on the court's orders. We believe that now the people will know the truth. Who was involved in this murder or who acted in financial transactions will also be revealed."
