Don sent to jail in Salman Shah murder case

Film actor Ashraful Haque Don, a key accused in the murder case over the death of popular actor Salman Shah, was sent to jail by a Dhaka court on Sunday.

Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Jewel Rana passed the order after Don was produced before the court following his arrest at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport early Sunday.

CID Inspector Arifur Rahman sought his detention in jail, saying Don had been absconding for a long time and that his release could hamper the investigation or allow him to flee. The court accepted the prosecution's plea and ordered that he be sent to jail.

Don was arrested by immigration police at around 5am while he was at the airport. He was later handed over to the CID for investigation and brought before the court in the afternoon.

He was produced before the court around 5:05pm under heavy police security, wearing a bulletproof vest and helmet. The police removed the protective gear after he was taken into the dock. No lawyer appeared for Don during the hearing.

The prosecution told the court that Don is named as the fourth accused in the murder case and alleged that he was involved in a plot to kill Salman Shah. It further alleged that the accused had agreed to pay Tk 12 lakh to have the actor killed and later staged the death as suicide.

The prosecution also alleged that Don had a secret relationship with Salman Shah's wife. The allegations, however, are yet to be proved in court.

Salman Shah, whose real name was Chowdhury Mohammad Shahriar Emon, died at his New Eskaton residence in Dhaka on September 6, 1996. His death was initially recorded as an unnatural death, and his father, the late Komruddin Ahmed Chowdhury, later alleged that his son had been murdered.

Following his father's death, Salman Shah's maternal uncle Mohammad Alamgir continued the legal proceedings on behalf of the family.

In 1997, the CID submitted a final report concluding that Salman Shah had died by suicide. The report was accepted by a Dhaka court later that year. His father subsequently challenged the report through a revision petition.

On October 20 last year, the Sixth Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge's Court in Dhaka allowed the revision petition and directed that the case be treated as a murder case.

The following day, a murder case was filed with Ramna Police Station against 11 people, including Salman Shah's wife Samira Haque, former film producer and businessman Aziz Mohammad Bhai, Don and several others. They were accused under Sections 302 and 34 of the Penal Code.

The case also names Latifa Haque Luchi, Debut, Javed, Faruk, Ruby of May-Fair Beauty Centre, Abdus Sattar, Saju and Rezvi Ahmed Farhad as accused, along with several unidentified persons.

Meanwhile, investigators had earlier sought permission to exhume Salman Shah's remains for a fresh inquest and autopsy to determine the actual cause of his death. A court subsequently granted permission, although the complainant's side later sought cancellation of the order.

The court has fixed August 30 for submission of the investigation report in the murder case. 

-HIS