Probe report in Sagar-Runi murder case on 15 April

A court here today set 15 April for filing a probe report in the sensational case lodged over the murders of journalist couple Sagar Sarowar and Meherun Runi, extending the deadline for the submission of the report for 116th time.

Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate MA Azharul Islam passed the order, allowing a time plea of the prosecution as the investigation agency failed to submit the report on Sunday.

The journalist couple was brutally murdered at their rented flat in the city's West Rajabazar on 11 February, 2012, in the presence of their (then) four-year-old son Mahir Sarwar Megh.

Runi's brother Nawser Alam filed a murder case with Sher-e-Bangla Nagar Police Station.

At that time, 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 the RAB. The elite crime-busting agency has failed to submit the investigation report in court after taking time 111 times in the last 12 years.

On 30 September, 2024, the High Court ordered the formation of a high-power task force through the Ministry of Home Affairs to probe the case, removing RAB from the charge.

The government on 23 October, 2024, formed a four-member task force to investigate the double murder. The task force was formed through a notification from the Ministry of Home Affairs. The notification asked the task force to submit its probe findings in six months.

The PBI was named the taskforce convener though the notice did not reveal the names of the other members.

The task force also includes one representative not below the rank of Additional Deputy Inspector General or DIG of Police Headquarters, one representative of the same rank of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and one representative of the rank of RAB Director.

The High Court on 16 October, 2024, released the full text of its September 30 order that had directed to shift the authority of probing the journalist couple Sagar Sarwar and Meherun Nahar Runi murder case from the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) to a high-powered task force to be formed by the Home Ministry.