Nearly 30 years after the death of film star Salman Shah, confusion broke out in a Dhaka court on Tuesday over whether his remains will be exhumed.
While it was initially learned that a previous order to dig up the body had been cancelled, officials later clarified that the request had only been “recorded” in the case files.
The situation developed on Tuesday, at the court of Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Md Jewel Rana. The plaintiff in the case, Mohammad Alamgir Kumkum, had filed an application seeking to cancel a previous order to exhume the actor’s remains.
Following a hearing in the morning, a police official read out an order, stating that the plaintiff’s request had been granted and the exhumation order was cancelled. Based on this announcement, various media outlets reported that the exhumation would no longer take place.
However, Sub-Inspector Shah Alam of the Prosecution Department later clarified that the exhumation order has not been cancelled. He explained that the plaintiff’s application was instead “recorded” (nothibhukto) by the court.
The plaintiff’s lawyer, Abid Hasan, expressed frustration over the conflicting information, noting that the cancellation was announced publicly in front of the magistrate. “In the morning, the court publicly cancelled the order to exhume Salman Shah’s remains.
“But by the afternoon, I heard the order was recorded. I cannot understand this. There should be greater transparency in all judicial proceedings,” he said. He added that such a mistake should not have occurred in the presence of the judge.
The plaintiff, Alamgir Kumkum, who is the uncle of the late actor, stated that he personally heard the court say “accepted” when he presented his application. “I heard it with my own ears. But now I hear it has been recorded. How is this possible?” he said.
SI Shah Alam attributed the discrepancy to a mistake by a police official who erroneously announced the order in open court, reiterating that the court’s actual decision was to record the application.
