Actress Shabnur has been angered by a recent interview in which a man named Rizvi Ahmed claimed he had loved her and that they had even been married. According to Shabnur, this information about a romance and marriage is fabricated. She even wrote, jokingly: “Hearing all this from him, it seems there was no real marriage with me — perhaps only a ‘dream wedding’.” What happened, and why is Shabnur angry?
On her official Facebook account, Shabnur wrote about the allegation of a romance: “Very recently, in an interview with RJ Nirob, Rizvi Ahmed said he could never express his love for me, but that in his heart he loved me so much that he even wanted to marry me — and still does! But strangely, at almost the same time, in another interview with Somoy TV, he again claimed I was his ex-girlfriend.”
But it did not stop there. The actress was quite stunned, because the interview claimed that Rizvi and Shabnur had married. She wrote: “He further claimed that he married me in 2016 and that we divorced in 2018!”
The actress said this information is in no way true, and raised questions on social media. She wrote: “My question is, he has been living in the United Kingdom for about 26-27 years, since 1999. By his own claim, he did not come to Bangladesh during that time. On the other hand, I never went to the UK between 2016 and 2018. So where did my marriage to him take place? How? And what is the proof? Even more amusing, I was married long before the time he mentions. Let alone a relationship with him, I don’t even recall ever seeing him — I don’t know him. Hearing all this, it seems there was no real marriage with me — perhaps only a ‘dream wedding’!”
Fans commented on the actress’s post to say they stood by her. Some wrote, “Thank you for bringing out the truth”; others, “The truth cannot be suppressed.” But the allegations around Shabnur did not stop at romance and marriage — there was also the matter of blackmailing Salman Shah.
On this, Shabnur wrote: “Rizvi Ahmed claimed with great malice that I used to blackmail Salman Shah, and blamed me for his death. Yet I first heard Rizvi’s name after Salman Shah’s death, when he became an approver in the case over his involvement in the killing. So the question is, how and on what basis is he claiming that I used to blackmail Salman Shah?”
Shabnur also wrote: “Rizvi claims I used to intrigue, or carry one’s words to the other between Salman and his wife. I have heard some other dishonest people have spread such baseless rumours too. These allegations are completely false. Such behaviour was never in my nature. My family did not teach me this either. Nor did I have the time for it. No one in the film world will ever be able to say I engaged in such intrigue with anyone.”
Shabnur wrote: “The person who became an approver, calling Salman Shah’s death a planned killing, is this Rizvi Ahmed alias Farhad. After being arrested in another case over an alleged attempt to abduct Salman Shah’s younger brother Shahran Chowdhury (Biltu), he became an approver in a statement to the court on 24 July 1997, admitting his own involvement in the Salman Shah killing. In that statement he claimed that on 6 September 1996 he was involved, with several others, in planning and carrying out Salman Shah’s killing in exchange for 1.2 million taka (12 lakh). He was then in jail for about nine months. By his own account, he emigrated to the UK soon after being released on bail.”
Shabnur also wrote: “Strangely, nearly 29 years after Salman’s death, in two separate interviews a short while ago, he claimed Salman Shah’s death was not a killing but a suicide. Not only that, he blamed Salman Shah’s mother, Nila Chowdhury, for that death. He also, for the first time, levelled false allegations against me.”
The circumstances of Salman Shah’s 1996 death remain legally contested; the case has been pursued as a killing, with Rizvi Ahmed among those who gave statements as an approver. If you or someone you know is struggling, support is available in Bangladesh from Kaan Pete Roi at +880 9612-119911, or the national emergency line 999.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report