Lawyer slams PBI for probe into actor Salman Shah’s ‘unnatural death’

Leading probe into ‘unnatural death’ will not yield anything, plaintiff’s counsel has said in reaction to updates filed by the Police Bureau of Investigation or PBI in the case over actor Salman Shah’s death.

“The investigation had been on for the past 21 years. Rizvi Ahmed had confessed under Section 164 long ago that it was a murder,” lawyer Mahfuz Mia told bdnews24.com on Monday.

“Rabeya Sultana Ruby recently said it out loud on the social media that it was a murder. Then why are they continuing with investigation into unnatural death? I demand that inquiry be conducted into (possible) murder,” said Mia.

PBI Inspector Sirajul Islam Babul filed updates on the case at the court of Metropolitan Magistrate Mahmuda Akter on Monday.

In his findings, Sirajul said Salman Shah’s mother Nilufar Chowdhury Neela has been questioned.

Statements of Humayun Kabir, A Salam, Delwar Hossain Sikder, A Khaleque Haolader, Badal Khandaker (director), Shah Alam Kiran (director), Mushfiqur Rahman Gulzer (director), SM Aloke Sikder and Harun-Ur-Rashid have been recorded, he said.

“I have issued inquiry slips at the permanent addresses of the witnesses to know their present addresses. I have examined Ruby’s video clip. The investigation is on,” he said.

Ruby, a former beautician and neighbour of Salman Shah, released a video on Facebook in August this year saying that film star Salman Shah had been murdered.

But, three days later, she posted another video where she changed her narrative and claimed she spoke "emotionally" in her earlier video.

Ruby had earlier claimed that her brother 'Rumi' murdered the Bangla matinee idol in 1996.

Rumi acted on behalf of Ruby's Chinese husband and the family of Salman's wife Samira Haq, but was himself later killed, she claimed.

She said she had escaped to the US fearing for her life.

In her new message, Ruby said the authorities, still investigating the movie star's death, should question his former wife Samira to learn what had actually happened.

Shahriar Chowdhury Emon, known as Salman Shah to his legions of fans, was found dead in his Dhaka apartment on Sep 6, 1996.

The police had started a case over unnatural death considering it a death by suicide, but the family objected to it and lodged a murder case.

Salman's father Kamaruddin Chowdhury had started the case. After his death, mother Neela Chowdhury became the plaintiff.

Now the Police Bureau of Investigation is investigating the case.

Metropolitan Magistrate Imdadul Hoque submitted a probe report to Dhaka chief metropolitan magistrate in 2014 where he mentioned it was an unnatural death.

Neela Chowdhury rejected the report and filed a no-confidence petition in the court of Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Jahangir Hossain the following year.

She named Samira Haq, her mother Latifa Haq Lucy, film producer Aziz Mohammad Bhai, Ruby, Rizvi Ahmed alias Farhad, Assistant Dance Director Nazrul Sheikh, David, Ashraful Hoque Don, Mostak Waheed, Abul Hossain Khan and domestic help Monwara Begum as suspects in the murder case.

The court accepted the petition and ordered Rapid Action Battalion to lead the inquiry. The petition was scrapped after the State challenged it in April last year.