Police have initiated a high-stakes manhunt to stop 11 suspects, including the late film star Salman Shah’s ex-wife Samira Haque, from fleeing Bangladesh over 30 years after his death. This is a startling turn of events in one of the country’s most renowned celebrity mysteries.
At Ramna Police Station, a murder case was officially opened soon after midnight on October 21. This brought back to life a cold case that has been on the thoughts of everyone in the country since September 6, 1996, when 24-year-old superstar Salman Shah was found hanging from a ceiling fan in his Eskaton house.
The case had been thought to be a suicide for a long time, but now that Shah’s family has been pushing and police have looked into it more closely, it is being looked at as a homicide.
On Saturday, Golam Faruk, the head of the Ramna Police Station, said that the identities of all 11 suspects had been handed to immigration straight away with stern orders: no one is to leave Bangladesh.
“We are treating this as a murder investigation because the court told us to,” OC Faruk told reporters. ” A lot of the persons that were charged may already be living outside of the US. We are using digital forensics and telephone tracking to discover folks who are still in the country. But we’ve taken action right away to ensure sure none of them can escape.
The list of people who are charged looks like a cast from a thriller: Samira Haque, Salman Shah’s ex-wife; Aziz Mohammad Bhai, a well-known businessman; and Latifa Haque. Lucy is a socialite who knows a lot of people in Dhaka’s wealthy circles. Don is a well-known crook who is recognized as a “villain” in the local underground.
And seven other people, plus “several unidentified persons” who the police say were involved in what they now consider was a planned crime.
Alamgir Kumkum, Salman Shah’s maternal uncle, filed the complaint after his mother, Neela Chowdhury, spent 29 years insisting that her son was not suicidal but was slain. She has said numerous times that “he had everything to live for.” “Fame, love, and a future.” Why would he wish to end it all?
For years, the Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) remained with its suicide finding. But because of the mounting public outrage, difficulties with the prior investigation, and new witness accounts, officials have had to look at the case again very quickly.
Officer-in-Charge, OC Faruk indicated that no one outside of the investigation is pushing it. He states, “We will catch the accused and bring them to justice no matter where they are.”
Bangladesh is holding its breath as immigration inspections become more strict and digital tracks are followed across borders. Salman Shah’s family has been asking for justice for him for 30 years. It appears like they might finally get it now. But time is running out, and the fight against it has never been more crucial.
