There is no end in sight to the investigation into the murder of Maasranga Television news editor Sagar Sarwar and ATN Bangla senior reporter Mehrun Runi even after around eight years of the journalist couple’s killing.
The court has so far deferred the date for submission of the probe report 68 times since the gruesome murder at the couple’s house at West Razabazar in the capital on Feb 11, 2012 as the investigators could not yet complete the probe.
Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Debabrata Biswas on Thursday (Nov 14) set December 30 as the latest date for the submission of the report.
Officers at the police station concerned opened probe just after the murder but the responsibility was shifted to the Detective Branch just four days later.
Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) took the task on Apr 18, 2012, at the instruction of the High Court but the elite police unit could not finish the probe in the last seven years.
RAB exhumed the remains of the couple on Apr 26, 2012 in presence of Executive Magistrate Md Shahiduzzaman, but found no toxic or poison in them.
Later, the elite police unit sent DNA samples of eight accused in the case and 21 more suspects to the United States from Jun 7 to 11 for matching with the evidence seized after the murder.
Five people – Minto alias Bargira Mintu, Bokul Mia, Kamrul Hasan Arun, Rafiqul Islam and Abu Sayeed already in custody in a murder and a robbery cases – were shown arrested on Oct 10, 2012 in the journalist couple killing case.
Three more accused – Runi’s friend Tanvir Rahman and building guards Palash Rudra Paul and Enam Ahmed alias Human Kabir were also nabbed in the case.