A high-level task force formed under the Ministry of Home Affairs is verifying information gathered from various sources in connection with the murder of journalist couple Sagar Sarwar and Meherun Runi. The task force has sought more time from the High Court to submit its investigation report.
A progress report outlining the status of the investigation has already been submitted to the court.
The investigation report was scheduled to be submitted on Tuesday. The matter is before a High Court bench comprising Justice Shikdar Mahmudur Razi and Justice Fatema Anwar.
Ahead of the deadline, the task force filed an application for an extension, saying in its progress report that it was still verifying several pieces of information.
On September 30, 2024, the High Court ordered the removal of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) from the investigation and directed the formation of a high-level task force under the Ministry of Home Affairs. The court initially set April 6, 2025, as the deadline for submitting the investigation report. The ministry subsequently formed the task force in line with the directive.
The report could not be submitted on the scheduled date, and the court later granted three six-month extensions following applications by the state, on April 22, October 23 and April 26. The case has now appeared on the High Court’s cause list again.
Sagar Sarwar, news editor at Maasranga Television, and Meherun Runi, a senior reporter at ATN Bangla, were murdered at their rented apartment in Dhaka’s West Rajabazar on the night of February 11, 2012. Their bodies were discovered the following morning.
The following day, Runi’s brother, Nausher Ali Roman, filed a murder case with Sher-e-Bangla Nagar police station.
More than 14 years after the murders, the investigation report remains pending despite changes in the investigators and the formation of a high-level task force.
