Rab’s successes will be devalued if it can’t find perpetrators
The High Court yesterday observed that the successes of Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) will be devalued to some extent if the elite force cannot find the motive and perpetrators behind the murders of journalist couple Sagar Sarowar and Meherun Runi.
“It is undoubtedly a matter of regret and disappointment that the motive behind the murders has not been found, the offenders could not be identified and arrested through investigation, and they were not put on trial although a long period after the incident has passed,” the HC observed.
The HC bench of Justice M Enayetur Rahim and Md Mostafizur Rahman came up with the observation while delivering verdict on a petition filed by accused Tanvir Rahman, who is now out on bail.
The court said the successes of Rab in tackling terrorism, drugs, illegal arms and food adulteration will be devalued to some extent if the elite force cannot unearth the reasons, find and arrest perpetrators behind the murders of Sagar and Runi, and cannot put them on trial.
The court ordered the investigation officer of Sagar-Runi murder case to submit a report on the latest status of its investigation and on the involvement of Tanvir Rahman with the incident by March 4 next year.
The HC also exempted Tanvir from personal appearance before the trial court in connection with the case until the investigation report is submitted to that court.
On November 11, IO Khondker Shafiqul Alam appeared before the HC bench as per its earlier order to explain the progress of the investigation and told the court that the investigation of Sagar-Runi murder case is going on.
Relevant samples of the accused and the deceased have been sent to the laboratory of Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the USA for DNA test, and the result is yet to arrive, he said while replying to a query from the HC.
Tanvir, an official of an English medium school in Dhaka, earlier submitted the petition to the HC for scrapping trial proceedings against him in the case.
The HC had granted bail to Tanvir in the double murder case on March 8, 2015.
Sagar, news editor at private TV channel Maasranga, and his wife Runi, a senior reporter at ATN Bangla, were killed in the early hours of February 11, 2012 at their rented flat in the capital’s West Razabazar.
After investigation by Sher-e-Bangla Nagar police, Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) started probing the murder on April 18, 2012.
Rab and other agencies have taken more than 65 dates from the trial court concerned for completing probe into the murder.
Advocate Fawzia Karim Firoze appeared for Tanvir while Deputy Attorney General Sarwar Hossain Bappi represented the state.
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