Over two years after the gruesome murder of Sagar and Runi, investigators are now claiming that two people killed the journalist couple but unable to say who they exactly were, intensifying the mystery further.
“Now we’re sure there had been two killers at their apartment during the late night brutal killing but couldn’t yet identify them,” said a senior Rab official involved in the investigation process wishing not to be named.
Contacted, Director (Legal and Media wing) of Rab headquarters Wing Commander ATM Habibur Rahman said the investigation is still going on and the latest technology and modern scientific methods are being used in the investigation.
“The highest priority has been given to unearth the mystery of the atrocious killing,” the Wing Commander said.
Expressing concern at the unsolved mystery, Dhaka Reporters’ Unity president Shahed Chowdhury said, “Even after two years of the murder, we’re still waiting to know why and who killed them. The essential details of the murder leave us with more questions than answers.”
Mentioning that Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) has already proved its efficiency as a force, Shahed Chowdhury said the elite force has been able to arrest the real culprits behind the Sonali Bank heist in Kishoregonj and recover the money looted from the bank within 48 hours into the incident.
However, he said, the same force is yet to make any notable progress in Sagar-Runi murder case, and added that Rab’s failure in this regard is appearing as a mystery to the journalist community as well as the whole nation.
If Rab faces any obstacles to bring the killers of Sagar-Runi to justice, those obstacles should be exposed for the sake of upholding reputation of the force,” he said expressing his hope that the elite crime buster will be able to crack the case.
Asked about their movement for the trial of Sagar-Runi murderers, the DRU president said they will continue the ongoing movement until their demand is met.
On February 11, 2012, Maasranga Television News Editor Sagar Sarowar and his wife ATN Bangla senior reporter Meherun Runi were found dead at their rented apartment in the city’s West Razabazar area. Sagar suffered 28 stab wounds while Runi five before they breathed their last.
Sources said though RAB carried out DNA tests of samples at two private laboratories in the USA, no sample of eight detained suspects are yet identical. Even the viscera report of the slain journalists could not unearth anything remarkable, the sources added.
Eight suspects-Rafiqul Islam, BakulMiah, MasumMintu, Sayeed, KamrulHasan alias Arun, security guard PalashRudra Paul, HumayunKabir alias Enamul and Tanvirul Islam-who were arrested by RAB are now in jail.
RAB launched the investigation into the murder following a High Court order On April 14 last year. Earlier, the Detective Branch of Dhaka Metropolitan police investigated the case.
After visiting the assassinated journalist couple’s residence after the killing, then Home Minister Advocate Shahara Khatun had said that the killers would be hunted down within 48 hours.
Several days later, Inspector General of Police Hasam Mahmud Khandker in a crowded press briefing at Police Headquarters claimed that there was a marked progress in the investigation into the case, which was filed with Sher-e-Banglanagar Police Station on February 11, 2012.
Amid the widespread of apprehension regarding fate of the case, the HC had asked the authorities concerned to transfer the case to the RAB as DB police failed to achieve a breakthrough in the case.
