A Dhaka court on Wednesday set July 8 for filing the probe report in the case lodged over the murders of journalist couple Sagar Sarowar and Meherun Runi, extending the deadline for the 118th time.
Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Shahin Reza passed the order, allowing the prosecution's plea for more time as the investigation agency failed to submit the report that day.
The court also granted a plea of the investigation officer to allow him to interrogate accused Tanvir, who remains in jail following his arrest in the case.
The journalist couple was brutally murdered in their rented flat in the city's West Razabazar on February 11, 2012, in the presence of their then four-year-old son Mahir Sarowar Megh.
Runi's brother Nawser Alam later filed a murder case at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar police station.
Initially, the Detective Branch (DB) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) was entrusted with the charge of the investigation into the murder case, which was later transferred to RAB. The elite police unit failed to submit the investigation report despite seeking time 111 times over the past 12 years.
On September 30, 2024, the High Court ordered the formation of a high-powered task force through the Ministry of Home Affairs to probe the case, removing RAB from the charge.
The government formed a four-member task force on October 23, 2024, through a notification issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs. The task force was asked to submit its findings within six months.
The Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) was named the task force convener, though the notification did not disclose the names of the other members.
The task force also includes one representative not below the rank of additional deputy inspector general (DIG) from Police Headquarters, one from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the same rank, and one of the rank of RAB director.
On October 16, 2024, the High Court released the full text of its September 30 order, which directed that the authority to probe the murder case be shifted from the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) to a high-powered task force under the Home Ministry.
