Sagar-Runi murder case documents not burnt: Police

Police in two separate statements today cleared that the documents of the journalist couple Sagar-Runi murder case were not burnt.

In a special statement, Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) said, "The information circulated in various electronic and print media that the documents of the Sagar-Runi murder case were burnt under DB (Detective Branch) custody is not correct."

The statement was signed by Muhammad Talebur Rahman, deputy commissioner of DB (Media and Public Relations).

The Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI), which is currently leading the probe, also released a separate statement rejecting the media reports.

"Some (media) are reporting that DB documents related to the Sagar-Runi murder case were burnt, which is incorrect," the PBI stated.

The PBI also quoted Additional Attorney General Arshadur Rauf, clarifying that he made no such remark regarding the destruction of documents.

Rather Rauf mentioned the difficulty in retrieving older files, as many of the DB officers previously involved in the case have since been transferred.

The PBI statement said that the High Court on 22 April verbally approved a six-month extension for the investigation, following a time extension petition filed by the state.

It continued that the state had requested a nine-month extension, while Advocate Shishir Manir, representing the plaintiff, asked for a three-month extension.

Earlier on 15 April last, A Dhaka court set 21 May as the new deadline for filing a probe report in the murder case of journalist couple Sagar Sarowar and Meherun Runi, marking the 117th extension of the deadline.

The journalist couple was murdered at their rented flat in the city's West Rajabazar on 11 February 2012, in the presence of their then four-year-old son, Mahir Sarwar Megh.

Runi's brother, Nawser Alam, filed a murder case with the Sher-e-Bangla Nagar police station.