Sagar-Runi murder case: Report submission deferred for 120th time, new deadline 14 September
Sagar Sarowar, news editor at Maasranga Television, and Meherun Runi, senior reporter at ATN Bangla, were killed on 11 February 2012 in their rented flat in the capital’s West Rajabazar area.
A Dhaka court set 14 September for submitting the investigation report in the murder case of journalist couple Sagar Sarowar and Meherun Runi, marking the 120th deferral.
Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Minhajur Rahman passed the order today (11 August), allowing a time plea of the prosecution as the Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI), the current investigation agency, failed to submit the report today.
Sagar Sarowar, news editor at Maasranga Television, and Meherun Runi, senior reporter at ATN Bangla, were killed on 11 February 2012 in their rented flat in the capital's West Rajabazar area.
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At the time of the incident, their four-and-a-half-year-old son, Mahir Sarowar Megh, was at home.
Runi's brother, Nowshher Alam Roman, later filed a murder case with Sher-e-Bangla Nagar police.
The accused in the case are Rafiqul Islam, Bokul Mia, Masum Mintu, Kamrul Islam alias Arun, Abu Sayeed, the couple's two security guards—Palash Rudra Pal and Enayet Ahmed—and their 'friend' Tanvir Rahman Khan.
Among them, Tanvir and Palash are on bail, while the others remain in custody.
Initially, Sher-e-Bangla Nagar police handled the investigation before it was transferred to the Detective Branch of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, and later to the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB).
On 30 September last year, the High Court removed RAB from the investigation and ordered that it be conducted by a high-powered task force to be formed through the Ministry of Home Affairs.
The order was issued by the High Court bench of Justice Farah Mahbub and Justice Muhammad Mahbub Ul Islam in response to a government application to modify a previous order on a writ petition seeking a proper investigation into the high-profile case.
During the hearing, the court said, "We hope justice will be ensured this time, and that the six months given for the investigation will mean six months."
Following the High Court directive, the government formed a four-member task force on 23 October, headed by the chief of the Police Bureau of Investigation.
