Travel ban imposed on Samira, Don
Staff Reporter :
A Dhaka court has imposed a travel ban on two individuals, including Samira Haque, wife of late film superstar Salman Shah, in connection with the actor’s alleged premeditated murder case dating back to 1996.
The other person barred from leaving the country is film actor Ashraful Haque, popularly known as Don.
Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Saifuzzaman issued the order on Monday, granting a petition submitted by Investigation Officer (IO) and Ramna Police Station Inspector Atiqul Alam Khandaker on 22 October.
The travel restriction comes nearly 29 years after the mysterious death of Salman Shah, whose real name was Chowdhury Mohammad Shahriar (Emon) — one of Bangladesh’s most beloved film stars of the 1990s.
A new murder case was filed on 21 October 2025 with Ramna Police Station by Salman Shah’s maternal uncle Mohammad Alamgir, accusing 11 individuals under sections 302 and 34 of the Penal Code.
The accused include Samira Haque, businessman Aziz Mohammad Bhai, Latifa Haque Lusi, Don, David, Zaved, Faruk, Ruby, A. Sattar, Saju, and Rijvi Ahmed Farhad.
Earlier, on 20 October, Dhaka’s 6th Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge Md Jannatul Ferdous Ibn Haque directed the officer-in-charge of Ramna Police Station to treat the earlier “unnatural death” case of Salman Shah as a murder case and submit a report accordingly.
The court noted that the unnatural death case had been revoked by a previous order issued on 31 October 2021.
According to the case statement, on 6 September 1996, Salman Shah’s mother Nilufar Zaman Chowdhury (Neela Chowdhury), father (late) Kamar Uddin Ahmed Chowdhury, and younger son Shahraan Shah went to Salman’s residence in New Eskaton, Dhaka, to visit him.
Upon arrival, Samira and a domestic aide named Abul told them that Salman was sleeping. Film producer Siddique was also present at that time. The family decided to visit him later that day on their way to Sylhet.
Later, around noon, production manager Selim called Kamar Uddin Ahmed Chowdhury and urged him to come immediately, saying something had happened to Salman. When the family arrived, they found Salman lying unconscious in his bedroom, while several unknown women were rubbing oil on his hands and feet. In another room, Samira’s relative Ruby, who ran a nearby beauty parlour, was seated.
Salman’s mother screamed for help, urging that her son be taken to the hospital. However, an acquaintance of Samira reportedly shouted, “You get out of my house.”
Salman was then rushed to Holy Family Hospital, where his parents noticed rope marks on his neck and blue discoloration on his face and legs. His mother insisted on transferring him to Dhaka Medical College Hospital, where doctors pronounced him dead upon arrival, stating he had died some time earlier.
Following the incident, Salman’s father filed an unnatural death case, which he later sought to convert into a murder case on 24 July 1997, under Section 302 of the Penal Code.
In the new complaint, Mohammad Alamgir stated, “As Salman’s father — my brother-in-law — has passed away, I am continuing the case on behalf of my sister under the power of attorney vested in me.”
The case has reignited public interest in the long-debated death of Salman Shah, whose sudden demise nearly three decades ago remains one of the most controversial mysteries in Bangladesh’s entertainment history.