Home minister sees no failure of law enforcers

In stark contrast to the journalists' claim that the law enforcers have failed to unearth the mystery behind the murder of journalist couple Sagar-Runi, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal yesterday said there was no failure on the part of law enforcers.

"Our Rab force is working on it [the murder case] as per the High Court order. They are working with the DNA samples. I think that they'll see a light of success soon," the minister said at the home ministry, replying to a query regarding the murder.

Though six years have passed since the journalist couple was murdered, law enforcers have yet to find out the killers, and the motive behind the killing is still unknown.

Yesterday, journalists staged a demonstration at Dhaka Reporters' Unity (DRU) premises in the capital, demanding that the government identify the people involved in the murder, and bring them to justice.

They criticised the government for failing to bring the murderers to book in the long six years, and cast doubt on the capacity of the law enforcing agencies in finding the clues behind the murder.

Speaking at the demonstration organised by DRU marking the sixth death anniversary of the couple, the journalists said they would wage a tougher movement seeking justice for Sagar and Runi. Otherwise, anybody may face the same fate, they added.

Dhaka Union of Journalists (DUJ) Organising Secretary Shahjahan Miah said the law enforcers are yet to find the murderers though six years have already passed.

DRU President Saiful Islam said law enforcers revealed the mystery of many murder cases previously, but it remains a question why they could not do so in... the murder of Sagar-Runi.

“Have the law enforcing agencies failed or they are incapable? Or, is there any reason behind it?” he asked.

“We gave six years for the investigation into the murder. How much time will be needed in future? If you [law enforcers] have failed, you will have to acknowledge it publicly,” he added.

Former DRU president Shakhawat Hossain Badshah said, “Still we hope to get justice for Sagar-Runi. We will continue our protest until it is served.”

DUJ General Secretary Jahangir Alam Prodhan and its another faction's General Secretary Sohel Haider Chowdhury, DRU General Secretary Syed Shukur Ali Shuvo, and its former general secretary Morsalin Nomani, also spoke.

Meanwhile, rights body Ain O Salish Kendra yesterday in a statement demanded that the authorities concerned identify the murderers of the journalist couple and punish them immediately.

Meherun Runi, a senior reporter of private television channel ATN Bangla, and her husband Sagar Sarowar, news editor of Maasranga TV, were murdered on February 11, 2012 at their rented flat in Dhaka's Rajabazar area.