A Dhaka court today extended November 18 the deadline for submitting the probe report of a case filed over the murders of journalist couple Sagar Sarowar and Meherun Runi in February 2012.
This is the 114th extension of the deadline for probe report submission.
Dhaka Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Md Mahbubul Haque passed the order as Investigation Officer Khondoker Md Shafiqul Alam, also an additional superintendent of police at Rab, failed to submit the report today.
On September 9, the same court asked Rab to submit the investigation report by today.
The High Court on September 30 expressed concern over Rab's prolonged failure to complete the investigation.
"The prolonged investigation delay is both unfortunate and shocking, affecting not only their family but the nation as a whole," said the bench of Justice Farah Mahbub and Justice Muhammad Mahbub Ul Islam.
In response to a petition, the High Court directed the home ministry to transfer the case to a high-powered task force comprising personnel from various agencies, to complete the investigation and submit a report within six months.
The next hearing is set for April 6, 2025.
This directive followed a petition filed by the government on September 29, seeking to modify a previous HC order from April 18, 2012, which had assigned the case to Rab from the police's detective branch.
The authorities still need to appoint new investigators, court sources confirmed.
The couple, Sagar Sarowar, news editor at Maasranga TV, and Meherun Runi, senior reporter at ATN Bangla, were killed in their rented flat in Dhaka's West Rajabazar on February 11, 2012. Their 5-year-old son was at home during the incident. Runi's brother, Nousher Ali Roman, filed a case the following day.
