The date for submitting a probe report in the shocking case involving the killings of journalist couple Sagar Sarowar and Meherun Runi has been extended for the 116th time by a court here, which set April 15 as the deadline.
Due to the investigating agency’s failure to provide the report today, Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate MA Azharul Islam issued the decision, allowing the prosecution to enter a time plea.
On February 11, 2012, the journalist couple was brutally killed at their leased apartment in West Rajabazar, the city, while their (then) four-year-old son, Mahir Sarwar Megh, was there.
The Sher-e-Bangla Nagar Police Station received a murder complaint from Runi’s brother, Nawser Alam.
The responsibility for the investigation of the murder case was then given to the Detective Branch (DB) of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), and it was then turned over to the RAB. After 111 delays over the previous 12 years, the prestigious crime-busting organization has yet to turn in the investigation report to the court.
RAB was cleared of the accusation on September 30, 2024, when the High Court directed the Ministry of Home Affairs to establish a high-power task force to look into the matter.
A four-person task group was established by the government on October 23, 2024, to look into the double murder. The Ministry of Home Affairs issued a notification to organize the task team. The task group was instructed to report its investigative results within six months, according to the notification.
Although the names of the other members were not disclosed in the announcement, the PBI was designated as the taskforce convener.
A representation of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the same rank, a representative of the RAB Director, and a person not lower than the rank of Additional Deputy Inspector General or DIG of Police Headquarters are also included in the task force.
The High Court on October 16, 2024, released the full text of its September 30 order that had directed to shift the authority of probing the journalist couple Sagar Sarwar and Meherun Nahar Runi murder case from the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) to a high-powered task force to be formed by the Home Ministry.
