The task force probing the 2012 murders of journalist couple Sagor Sarowar and Meherun Runi has opined this is a premeditated murder and not at all a suicide case. It also observed that due to sample collection errors, “DNA samples collected from the crime scene were inconclusive.”
The probe body in its recent report submitted to the High Court says, the murderers used knife and a cleaver (boti) to kill Sagor and Runi. Initial viscera report has failed to detect any evidence of toxin or sedatives. However, on April 22, the court was told that forensic evidence related to the case had been sent to the United States, and the task force was waiting for the expert report.
Reacting to the update, Runi’s brother, Nowsher Alam Roman, said, “The task force still has no concrete evidence. We are still in the dark.”
According to the April 22 report, Sagor and Runi were murdered between 3:00am and 5:00am on February 11, 2012, while sleeping in their bedroom with their 5-year-old son. Sagor was attacked first, followed by Runi. Despite sustaining fatal injuries, both remained alive for some time after the assault. Investigators recovered a kitchen knife and a cleaver from the crime scene, believed to have been used in the attack. The report noted there were no signs of forced entry and no one else was present in the home before the murders.
Md Mostafa Kamal, additional inspector general of police and head of the Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI), who leads the task force, told the task force submitted the report as the HC asked for an update on the investigation. “We informed the court and sought more time. The report we submitted was not a final or conclusive one. Nothing can be said with certainty until the investigation is complete,” he added.
On September 30 last year, the HC directed the home ministry to form a task force of senior law enforcement officials and transfer the probe from Rab to this team. The initial six-month deadline expired on March 31.
So far, 12 people, including seven journalists, have been questioned in connection with the case.
Sagor was the news editor at Maasranga TV, and Runi was a senior reporter at ATN Bangla. The murders occurred in their rented apartment in West Rajabazar. Roman filed the case the next day at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar Police Station, naming no suspects.
Initially, the Detective Branch (DB) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) was assigned to investigate the case, but it was later transferred to the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB).
The elite group failed to submit the investigation report in court after taking 111 times over 12 years.
On September 30, 2024, the High Court ordered the formation of a high-powered task force through the Ministry of Home Affairs to investigate the case, removing RAB from the charge. The government formed a four-member task force on October 23, 2024, to investigate the double murder. The task force was constituted through a notification from the Ministry of Home Affairs, which instructed the task force to submit its probe findings within six months.
The Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) was named as the convener of the task force, although the names of the other members were not disclosed in the notification.
The task force also includes one representative not below the rank of additional deputy inspector general (DIG) from Police Headquarters, one representative of the same rank from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), and one representative holding the rank of director from RAB.
On October 16, 2024, the High Court released the full text of its September 30 order, which directed the transfer of investigative authority in the Sagor Sarowar and Meherun Nahar Runi murder case from RAB to a high-powered task force to be formed by the home ministry.