A Dhaka court has deferred the submission of the investigation report in the murder case of journalist couple Sagar Sarowar and Meherun Runi to November 5, marking the 130th time the report has been deferred.
Wednesday was the scheduled date for submitting the report. However, the Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI), which is investigating the case, failed to submit it.
Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Ariful Islam then set November 5 as the new date for submission.
Sub-Inspector Rafiqul Islam of the prosecution division confirmed the matter.
The accused in the case are Rafiqul Islam, Bakul Mia, Masum Mintu, Kamrul Islam alias Arun, Abu Sayeed, security guards Palash Rudra Pal and Enayet Ahmed, and the couple’s friend Tanvir Rahman Khan.
Tanvir is currently out on bail, while Palash went into hiding after securing bail. The other accused remain in custody.
Sagar Sarowar, news editor at Maasranga Television, and Meherun Runi, a senior reporter at ATN Bangla, were murdered at their residence on February 11, 2012. Following the incident, Runi’s brother, Nausher Alam Roman, filed a murder case with Sher-e-Bangla Nagar police station.
Initially, a sub-inspector of the police station was assigned to investigate the case. Four days later, the investigation was transferred to the Detective Branch (DB) of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police.
After more than two months, the DB failed to resolve the case, and the High Court subsequently handed the investigation over 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 various agencies to investigate the murders. The court also directed that the investigation be completed within six months and ordered RAB to be removed from the investigation.
Following another High Court directive, the Public Security Division of the Ministry of Home Affairs issued a notification on October 17 last year forming the task force.
A four-member task force was subsequently formed, with the PBI chief serving as its convener.