Court scraps order to exhume actor Salman Shah's body

The decision halts a move to recover the remains of the screen icon from his grave nearly three decades after his death

A Dhaka court has cancelled an order to exhume the body of film star Chowdhury Mohammad Shahriar Emon, popularly known as Salman Shah, nearly 30 years after his death.

Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Md Jewel Rana passed the directive on Tuesday following an application from the plaintiff’s side.

The plaintiff’s lawyer, Abid Hasan, confirmed the development.

The application to scrap the exhumation order was filed by Mohammad Alamgir Kumkum, the maternal uncle of the deceased actor and the plaintiff in the case.

The same magistrate had originally granted permission to exhume the remains on May 24 in the presence of an executive magistrate, though the order only became public on Jun 10.

The exhumation request had been filed on May 20 by Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Inspector Ziaul Morshed, the investigating officer in the case.

The petition noted that a murder case was filed with Ramna Police Station under court orders 29 years after the incident.

"It is necessary to exhume the body, complete an inquest report and review the postmortem findings in the interest of a proper investigation," it added.