A Dhaka court has granted five days’ remand for Ashraful Haque Don in the murder case of film actor Salman Shah.
Metropolitan Magistrate Md Jewel Rana passed the order on Thursday after a remand hearing.
CID Inspector Md Mujibur Rahman of Dhaka Metro South, the investigation officer, had sought seven days’ remand for Don. The petition, filed on 20 August, was scheduled for hearing on 27 August.
During the hearing, Public Prosecutor Omar Faruk Faruqui argued in favour of remand, saying statements recorded under Section 164 revealed details of how the killing occurred and the financial transactions involved. He said these claims needed to be verified for the sake of a proper investigation.
Public Prosecutor Omar Faruk Faruqi further said that although the popular actor died nearly 30 years ago, the mystery of his death has not yet been fully uncovered.
He added that it was necessary to identify those still in hiding and to determine whether anyone had instigated Don’s attempt to leave the country. For these reasons, interrogation was essential.
On the other hand, Don’s lawyers including Dhaka Bar Association General Secretary Mohammad Abul Kalam Khan and Faridul Islam filed a petition to cancel the remand.
Lawyer Abul Kalam Khan told the court that Don was an actor who had contributed to the country’s film industry and argued that Salman Shah’s popularity had grown further because of Don’s own fame.
Lawyer Faridul Islam said Don was not attempting to flee abroad; he was traveling to Saudi Arabia to perform Umrah. Don was unaware of the travel ban, he argued.
While there are various discussions about the incident on social media, most of them are not true. The central issue of the investigation, the lawyer said, was whether Salman Shah was murdered or committed suicide.
Salman Shah died at his residence in Iskaton in the capital on 6 September 1996.
Although his death was initially reported as a suicide, a murder case was filed later. The investigation into the case has been ongoing for a long time, with multiple names emerging at different times.
On 20 October 2025, Mohammad Alamgir Kumkum, the brother of Salman Shah’s mother Neela Chowdhury, filed the case at Ramna Police Station on her behalf against 11 individuals, including Samira Haq.
The other accused in the case are Samira Haq’s mother Latifa Haq Lucy, businessman Aziz Mohammad Bhai, antagonist actor Ashraful Haque Don, David, Javed, Faruk, Ruby, A Sattar, Saju, and Rezvi Ahmed alias Farhad.
