A Dhaka court on Wednesday deferred the submission of the investigation report in the murder case of journalist couple Sagar Sarowar and Meherun Runi for the 128th time, setting August 27 as the next date.
The report was scheduled to be submitted on Wednesday. However, the investigation officer, Additional Superintendent of Police Md Azizul Haque of the Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI), failed to submit it.
Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Ariful Islam subsequently fixed August 27 for the submission of the report.
Sub-Inspector Mazharul Islam of the prosecution confirmed the development.
The accused in the case are Rafiqul Islam, Bokul Mia, Masum Mintu, Kamrul Islam, Abu Sayeed, Sagar and Runi's two security guards, Palash Rudra Pal and Enayet Ahmed, and their associate Tanvir Rahman Khan.
Among them, Tanvir is out on bail, while Palash Rudra Pal has absconded after securing bail. The remaining accused are in jail.
Sagar Sarowar, news editor of Maasranga Television, and Meherun Runi, senior reporter at ATN Bangla, were murdered on February 11, 2012.
Following the killings, Runi's brother, Nausher Alam Roman, filed a murder case with Sher-e-Bangla Nagar Police Station.
The case was initially investigated by a sub-inspector of the police station before being transferred to the Detective Branch (DB) of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police 4 days later. After the DB failed to solve the case, the High Court transferred the investigation to the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) on April 18, 2012.
On September 30 last year, the High Court ordered the formation of a high-powered task force comprising experienced investigators from different agencies and directed that the investigation be completed within 6 months. The court also removed RAB from the investigation.
Following the order, the Public Security Division of the Ministry of Home Affairs issued a gazette notification on October 17 last year, forming a 4-member high-level task force led by the chief of the Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI).