Court rejects Don’s bail plea in Salman Shah murder case

A Dhaka court has rejected the bail petition of actor Ashraful Haque Don, who was arrested in the murder case involving popular Bangladeshi film star Salman Shah.

Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Mohammad Ehsanul Islam passed the order on Wednesday (August 12) after hearing arguments from both sides.

Don’s lawyers, M Faridul Islam and Tariqul Islam Jewel, among others, sought his release, arguing that the case documents and arrest warrant contained no specific allegation against their client.

They also maintained that Don had no involvement in Salman Shah’s death.

Metropolitan Public Prosecutor Omar Faruq Faruqi opposed the bail petition. After hearing both sides, the court rejected the application.

Don was produced before the court on August 9 by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), which sought his detention in connection with the case. According to the CID, immigration police detained him at the airport while he was preparing to travel to Saudi Arabia to perform Umrah. He had reportedly remained absconding in the case for years.

The CID subsequently took Don into custody for questioning, telling the court that his release on bail could hamper the investigation and allow him to go into hiding again.

Salman Shah, one of Bangladesh’s most popular film stars of the 1990s, died at his residence in New Eskaton, Dhaka, on September 6, 1996. His father, Kamar Uddin Ahmed Chowdhury, initially filed an unnatural death case. He later sought to have it converted into a murder case, alleging that his son had been killed.

After a lengthy investigation, the CID in a 1997 report concluded that Salman Shah had died by suicide. His family, however, rejected the finding and continued its legal challenge.

Following a recent court directive to treat the death as a murder, Salman Shah’s maternal uncle Mohammad Alamgir filed a fresh murder case with Ramna Police Station on October 21. The case names 11 people, including Salman Shah’s wife Samira Haque, businessman and former film producer Aziz Mohammad Bhai, Latifa Haque Luchi and Don. Several others have also been named, along with a number of unidentified suspects.

The case has been filed under Sections 302 and 34 of the Penal Code.

Meanwhile, the court has allowed Salman Shah’s remains to be exhumed for a fresh inquest and autopsy as part of efforts to determine the circumstances surrounding his death. Executive Magistrate Pingi Saha of Sylhet has been appointed to oversee the process.

The court has set August 30 as the deadline for submission of the investigation report.