A Dhaka court has fixed April 1 as the new deadline for submitting the investigation report in the murder case of journalists Sagar Sarwar and Meherun Runi after investigators once again failed to file the report.
Metropolitan Magistrate Arifur Rahman on Monday also ordered the investigating officer, Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) Additional Superintendent of Police Md Azizul Haque, to appear in person and explain the repeated delay.
This is the 124th time the submission of the investigation report has been deferred.
Nine people have been named as accused in the case. Among them, Tanvir Rahman Khan and security guard Palash Rudra Pal are on bail, while the remaining accused are in custody.
Sagar Sarwar, news editor of Maasranga Television and Meherun Runi, a senior reporter at ATN Bangla, were murdered at their Dhaka residence on February 11, 2012. The case was filed by Runi’s brother, Nowsher Alam Roman, with Sher-e-Bangla Nagar Police Station.
The investigation was initially conducted by local police before being transferred to the Detective Branch and later to the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) under High Court orders. None of the agencies completed the probe.
In September last year, the High Court directed the formation of a high-powered task force comprising experienced investigators. A four-member task force, headed by the PBI chief, was formed in October through a notification issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs.
