Court denies bail to Don in Salman Shah murder case

A Dhaka court on Wednesday rejected the bail petition of actor Ashraful Haque Don, three days after his arrest in connection with the 1996 murder case of film star Mohammad Shahriar, known widely as Salman Shah, according to the family's lawyer, Abid Hasan.

Several defence lawyers, including M. Faridul Islam and Tariqul Islam Jewel, filed the bail application on Don's behalf, arguing that neither the case's first information report nor the arrest forwarding document contained any specific allegation against him, and that he bore no connection to the alleged incident. Public Prosecutor Omar Faruk Faruqui opposed the plea on behalf of the state, and after hearing arguments from both sides, Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Mohammad Ehsanul Islam denied the request.

Don had reportedly been barred from leaving the country in connection with the case; he was taken into custody by the Criminal Investigation Department after immigration authorities flagged him while he was travelling to Saudi Arabia to perform Umrah. Salman Shah died at his Eskaton residence in the capital on 6 September 1996, a death initially recorded as suicide before a murder case was subsequently filed, with investigations over the years implicating several individuals.

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The current case was lodged on 20 October 2025 at Ramna police station by Mohammad Alamgir Kumkum, brother of Salman Shah's mother Neela Chowdhury, acting on her behalf, naming eleven accused including Samira Haque. The other named defendants are Samira Haque's mother, Latifa Haque Lucy, businessman Aziz Mohammad Bhai, Don, David, Javed, Faruk, Ruby, A. Sattar, Saju, and Rezvi Ahmed, alias Farhad.