A Dhaka court on Tuesday set 21 May 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 the 117th 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 Tuesday.
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 the Sher-e-Bangla Nagar Police Station.
At that time, the Detective Branch (DB) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) was assigned to investigate the murder case, which was later handed over to the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB). The elite force failed to submit the investigation report to the court despite taking 111 extensions over 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 task force 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.
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