Probe report in Sagar-Runi murder case on July 8

Probe report in Sagar-Runi murder case on July 8

21 May, 2025 : A Dhaka court today set July 8 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 118th time. Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Shahin Reza passed the order, allowing the prosecutions plea for more time as the investigation agency failed to submit the report today. 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 at their rented flat in the citys West Rajabazar on February 11, 2012, in the presence of their then four-year-old son Mahir Sarwar Megh. Runis brother Nawser Alam later filed a murder case with the 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 the RAB. The elite crime-busting agency 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 of journalist couple Sagar Sarwar and Meherun Nahar Runi be shifted from the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) to a high-powered task force under the Home Ministry.