A Dhaka court has granted an extension until April 1 for the submission of the probe report regarding the murders of journalist couple Sagar Sarowar and Meherun Runi in February 2012. The deadline was prolonged by Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Ariful Islam after Investigation Officer Md Azizul Haque, an additional superintendent of police at the Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI), failed to present the report as scheduled. Despite 125 previous deadlines, the investigators had not been able to submit the report to the court.
Sagar Sarowar, a news editor at Maasranga TV, and his wife Meherun Runi, a senior reporter at ATN Bangla, were killed on February 11, 2012, in their rented flat in West Rajabazar in the early hours of the morning. Their only child, Mahir Sarowar Megh, who was five years old at the time, was present in the apartment during the incident.
Following the murders, eight suspects were apprehended, namely Kamrul Islam alias Arun, Abu Sayeed, Rafiqul Islam, Bakul Miah, Masum Mintu, Palash Rudra Paul, Anamul Haque alias Humayun Kabir, and Tanveer Rahman Khan. Tanveer and Mintu are currently out on bail, while Palash is evading authorities. The other five suspects are in custody.
Subsequent to the filing of the case, the investigation was initially assigned to the Sher-e-Bangla Nagar Police Station and later transferred to the Detective Branch (DB) of the police. The DB handled the case until April 18 of the same year. The case was then passed on to the Rapid Action Battalion (Rab), which conducted the investigation until November 3, 2024. On November 4, 2024, the Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) assumed responsibility for the case following a directive from the High Court.
Additionally, on October 23 of the same year, a four-member task force was assembled to further investigate the case, with the PBI chief appointed as the convener.
