Police Bureau of Investigation to open fresh enquiry into movie star Salman Shah's death

After a move to reinvestigate actor Salman Shah's death by RAB stalled, a fresh enquiry by the Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) has been ordered.

A Dhaka metropolitan magistrate court on Tuesday ordered the investigating unit, formed in 2012, to carry out a new probe.

The movie star's mother Neela Chowdhury, who is the plaintiff of the case, says the move has rekindled their hope for justice.

"It's like a light at the end of the tunnel for us," she told bdnews24.com on Wednesday.

“Let's see what the investigation now leads to," said her counsel Mahfuz Miah.

The previous order for a fresh probe by RAB had been overturned after the State challenged it in a higher court.

Salman's father Kamar Uddin had started the case, but after his death, Neela emerged as the plaintiff.

She had pressed a petition in the court rejecting the investigation report, which said the actor had committed suicide.

Salman was found dead at his Dhaka apartment on Sep 6, 1996.

Police had filed a case of unnatural death considering it a suicide, but the family objected to it and lodged a murder case.

The case accused 11 persons, including the actor's wife Samira Haque, producer and businessman Aziz Mohammad Bhai.

The others are Salman's mother-in-law Latifa Haque Lucy, house help Monowara Begum and seven more --  Rizvi Ahmed alias Farhad,  choreographer Nazrul Sheikh, 'David', Ashraful Haque Don, Rabeya Sultana Rubi, Mostak Wayeed, Abul Hossain Khan -- all presumably Bhai's associates.

Police had reported it to the court on several occasions as a case of suicide, but the family had dismissed such contention. His legion of fans had also demonstrated at the court premises.

"His body was not found hanging, which the defence has been claiming," mother Neela Chowdhury told bdnews24.com.

In January this year, 20 years after Salman’s passing, the matter was taken to a Dhaka court once again to find whether it was a murder.

Md Faruq, one of the members of plaintiff's legal team, said accused Rizvi Ahmed, in a statement given before a judge, had said the actor was murdered.

"He had held the actor’s legs to help the other suspects. It is in his statement, recorded before a magistrate, concerning another case accusing wife Samira, her mother, Don, and Aziz Mohammad Bhai. The matter has been mentioned during a hearing before the court in this case," he told bdnews24.com.