Film actor Mohammad Ashraful Haque, popularly known as Don, has been arrested in the murder case filed over the death of popular actor Salman Shah.
Immigration police arrested Don from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka on Sunday (9 August).
He was later handed over to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), which is investigating the case.
According to police, Don was detained while preparing to travel to Saudi Arabia to perform Umrah.
Following news of Don’s arrest, Salman Shah’s mother Neela Chowdhury expressed her reaction.
She said her son had been murdered and alleged that Don was closely involved in his death.
“Salman is my son. He is and will remain in my heart. He was murdered, and Don was deeply involved in his murder. After Salman’s death, he also insulted me in various ways and made false allegations against my son,” she said.
Neela Chowdhury also expressed confidence in the current government and said she hoped everyone involved in Salman Shah’s death would be arrested and that she would eventually receive justice.
Salman Shah, whose real name was Chowdhury Mohammad Shahriar Emon, died at his residence in New Eskaton, Dhaka, on 6 September, 1996.
His father, the late Kamar Uddin Ahmed Chowdhury, initially filed an unnatural death case.
On 24 July, 1997, his father applied to have the case treated as a murder case, alleging that his son had been killed.
The court subsequently directed the CID to investigate both the unnatural death and murder allegations.
The CID submitted its final report on 3 November, 1997, concluding that Salman Shah had died by suicide.
The Dhaka Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court accepted the report on 25 November that year.
Salman Shah’s father later challenged the CID report through a revision petition.
After a lengthy legal process, the Sixth Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge’s Court in Dhaka accepted the revision petition on 20 October, 2025, and ordered that the case be treated as a murder case. The order was issued by Judge Md Jannatul Ferdous Ibn Haque.
The following day, on 21 October, Salman Shah’s maternal uncle Mohammad Alamgir filed a murder case with Ramna Police Station.
Eleven people, including Salman Shah’s former wife Samira Haque, were named as accused under Sections 302 and 34 of the Penal Code.
The other accused are businessman and former film producer Aziz Mohammad Bhai, Latifa Haque Luchi, actor Mohammad Ashraful Haque (Don), David, Javed, Faruk, Ruby of May-Fair Beauty Centre, Abdus Sattar, Saju and Rizvi Ahmed Farhad. Several unidentified individuals were also included in the case.
The complaint alleges that on 6 September 1996, Neela Chowdhury, her husband Kamaruddin Ahmed Chowdhury and their younger son Shahran Shah went to Salman Shah’s New Eskaton residence.
They were initially told that Salman was sleeping.
Shortly afterwards, production manager Selim called and informed them that something had happened to Salman.
The family rushed back and found him lying unconscious in his bedroom.
According to the complaint, several women were massaging his hands and feet, while Samira’s relative Ruby was sitting in an adjacent room.
Salman was subsequently taken to hospital. The complaint alleges that marks around his neck and bluish marks on his face and legs were noticed on the way.
He was taken first to Holy Family Hospital and later to Dhaka Medical College Hospital, where doctors declared him dead.
The case complaint further states that Kamaruddin Ahmed Chowdhury had suspected that his son had been murdered even before his death.
After his death, Salman Shah’s maternal uncle Mohammad Alamgir has been pursuing the case on behalf of the family.
As part of the renewed investigation, the investigation officer sought permission to exhume Salman Shah’s remains for a fresh inquest and autopsy.
A Dhaka court subsequently granted permission for the exhumation and autopsy.
The process was later placed under the supervision of executive magistrate Pinki Saha, Additional District Magistrate of Sylhet.
Nearly three decades after Salman Shah’s death, the case is now being investigated as a murder.
Don’s arrest is being viewed as a significant development in the investigation.
A report in the case is scheduled to be submitted to the court on 30 August.
