Sagar-Runi murder case probe report delayed for 127th time

The submission of the investigation report in the high-profile murder case of journalist couple Sagar Sarowar and Meherun Runi has been postponed by July 22, marking the 127th delay in the proceedings.

Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Ariful Islam set the new date on Thursday (June 18) after the Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI), currently tasked with probing the case, failed to submit the report on the scheduled day.

Sub-Inspector Rafiqur Islam of the prosecution division of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police confirmed the development.

Sagar Sarowar, news editor at Maasranga Television, and his wife Meherun Runi, a senior reporter at ATN Bangla, were murdered on February 11, 2012, at their rented residence in West Rajabazar, Dhaka. Their four-and-a-half-year-old son was present in the home at the time of the incident.

The case was initially filed by Runi’s brother, Nawsher Alam Roman, at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar Police Station. Over the years, the investigation has shifted between multiple agencies, including local police, the Dhaka Metropolitan Police Detective Branch, and later the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB).

Despite repeated changes in investigative authority, the case has remained unresolved for more than a decade, drawing widespread public attention and criticism over prolonged delays in justice delivery.

Earlier, the High Court directed that a high-powered task force formed under the Ministry of Home Affairs take over the investigation, removing RAB from the case. Following that order, the government constituted a four-member task force led by the chief of the PBI.