Court allows exhumation of actor Salman Shah’s remains
Published: 11 June 2026, 1:21:12
A Dhaka court has recently granted permission to exhume the body of renowned actor Salman Shah in a bid to determine the actual cause of his death.
Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Jewel Rana passed the order on 24 May following an application filed by the investigation officer of the case.
Sub-Inspector Shah Alam of Prosecution Division of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police confirmed the information on Wednesday.
Earlier, on 20 May, the investigation officer of the case, CID Inspector Md Ziaul Morshed, sought court permission to exhume the body, prepare an inquest report and conduct a fresh autopsy. He also requested the appointment of an executive magistrate to oversee the process.
On 20 October, Dhaka’s 6th Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge’s Court ordered the filing of a fresh case nearly 29 years after the actor’s death.
The court also ordered Ramna Model Police Station to submit an investigation report. On the same night, Salman Shah’s maternal uncle, Md Alamgir Kumkum, filed the case with Ramna Model Police Station.
Salman Shah’s wife Samira Haque, businessman Aziz Mohammad, Latifa Haque Lucy, film actor Don, David, Javed, Faruk, Rubi, Abdus Sattar, Saju and Rezvi Ahmed were named as accused in the case.
On 6 September 1996, film actor Salman Shah’s body was recovered from his residence in the capital’s Eskaton. His father, Komoruddin Ahmed Chowdhury, initially filed an unnatural death case.
Later, on 24 July 1997, a petition was filed seeking to convert the case into a murder case. The court then directed the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to investigate the matter.
On 3 November 1997, the CID submitted its final report to the court, stating that the death was a suicide. The report was accepted by a Dhaka court on 25 November of the same year.
However, Komoruddin filed a revision petition challenging the report. On 19 May 2003, the court ordered a judicial inquiry into the case.
