29 years after Salman Shah's death, murder case filed against wife Samira, 10 others

Nearly 29 years after the death of Bangla film icon Salman Shah, a case has been filed against 11 people, including his wife Samira Haque, accusing them of the premeditated murder of the popular movie superstar.

Salman Shah's maternal uncle Mohammad Alamgir filed the case with the capital's Ramna Police Station under sections 302 and 34 of the Penal Code.

The accused are: Samira Haque, Aziz Mohammad Bhai, Latifa Haque Lusi, Dawn, David, Zaved, Faruk, Ruby, A Sattar, Saju and Rijvi Ahmed Farhad.

Earlier, on 20 October, Dhaka's 6th Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge Md Jannatul Ferdous Ibn Haque ordered the officer-in-charge of Ramna Police Station to treat the case filed over the death of Chowdhury Mohammad Shahriar (Emon), popularly known as Salman Shah, as a murder case and submit a report in this regard.

The court, in its order, said that the unnatural death case was hereby cancelled and revoked by order passed on 31 October 2021.

According to the case statement, on 6 September 1996, Salman Shah's mother Nilufar Zaman Chowdhury (Neela Chowdhury), father now late Kamar Uddin Ahmed Chowdhury, and their younger son Shahraan Shah went to Salman's residence at New Eskaton to meet him.

After they arrived at Salman's Eskaton residence, his wife Samira and a domestic aide named Abul informed them that Salman was sleeping. At that time, film producer Siddique had also gone to meet him. Hearing that Salman was asleep, his parents told Samira that they would meet him on their way to Sylhet.

Later that day, production manager Selim phoned Kamar Uddin Ahmed Chowdhury saying that something had happened to Salman and urged them to go to his house immediately. When Neela, her husband, and their younger son reached the house, they found Salman lying motionless in his bedroom, while a few unknown women were rubbing oil on his hands and feet. In another room, Samira's relative Ruby -- who ran the nearby Mayfair Beauty Parlour -- was sitting.

At that moment, Salman's mother screamed and urged them to take her son to the hospital immediately. One of Samira's acquaintances reportedly shouted at Salman's mother, saying, "You get out from my house." Salman's parents quickly took him towards Holy Family Hospital, where they noticed rope marks on his neck and his face and legs turning blue. His mother insisted on taking him to Dhaka Medical College Hospital, where doctors declared Salman Shah dead upon arrival, saying he had died some time earlier.

Following the incident, Kamar Uddin Ahmed Chowdhury initially filed an unnatural death case. The following year, on 24 July 1997, Salman Shah's father filed a petition with the court, bringing murder allegations and seeking to register the case under Section 302 of the Penal Code.

"As Salman's father -- my brother-in-law -- has passed away, I am pursuing the case on behalf of my sister under the power of attorney vested in me," the complainant said.