Families of slain journalist couple Sagar Sarwar and Meherun Runi, Cumilla cultural activist Sohagi Jahan Tonu, Narayanganj student Tanwir Muhammad Taqi, and college student Mosarat Jahan Munia still cry for justice as the murder cases have remained unsolved for years.
All the cases share a pattern 鈥� high public profile, early promises from authorities, repeated delay in investigation or issuing clean-chits despite the family鈥檚 objection and no final accountability for the perpetrators.
Journalist couple Sagar Sarwar and Meherun Runi were killed in their Dhaka apartment in February 2012, Taqi was killed in Narayanganj in March 2013, Tonu was raped and murdered in Cumilla in March 2016 and Mosarat Jahan Munia was found dead in a Gulshan apartment in April 2021.
The incidents triggered nationwide protests demanding justice and bringing the perpetrators to book.
The families of the victims expressed utter dissatisfaction over the delay in the completion of the investigations into the cases.
Maasranga Television news editor Sagar Sarowar and his wife and ATN Bangla senior reporter Meherun Runi were killed in their rented apartment in the capital鈥檚 West Rajabazar area on February 11, 2012. Their son Mahir Sarowar Megh, then four-and-a-half-year-old and now 19, was at home during the murder.
Runi鈥檚 brother Nowsher Roman then filed a case with Sher-e-Bangla Nagar police station in connection with the murders.
The investigators, in the past 13 years, took time from the court for 118 times to submit the investigation report.
鈥楢fter the political change in 2024, we hoped that we would get justice. But, I am hopeless now as there is very little progress in the investigation,鈥� Nowsher said.
Police Bureau of Investigation鈥檚 additional superintendent of police Md Azizul Haque, who is now investigating the case, said that they were trying their best to solve the case.
He, however, refrained from commenting on whether the investigation was in progress.
Taqi, an A-level student and son of cultural activist and rights campaigner Rafiur Rabbi in Narayanganj, was abducted on March 6, 2013 while he was going to a local library from his Shahesta Khan Road home.
His body, bearing several wounds, was found floating in the Shitalakkhya River on March 8, 2013.
Taqi鈥檚 father Rafiur Rabbi told 抖阴精品 that he wanted to be hopeful that the long-awaited justice would be served soon.
鈥業 spoke to the investigators of the case and told them that the probe report must be accurate so that not a single perpetrator can escape punishment for what they did to my son,鈥� he added.
RAB-11 commanding officer Lieutenant Colonel HM Sajjad Hossain told 抖阴精品 that their investigation was going on.
鈥楢fter verifying all collected information and evidence, a charge sheet will be submitted to the court. Further information will be shared after the completion of the investigation,鈥� he added.
The RAB has taken 70 time extensions to submit a charge sheet in the case filed following the killing.
Following the fall of the Awami League regime in early August last year, six suspects were arrested in connection with the murder.
The RAB sought additional time from a Narayanganj court on September 18 to submit the charge sheet in the case.
Tonu, a student of Cumilla Victoria College鈥檚 history department and also a theatre activist, was raped and murdered inside Cumilla Cantonment on March 20, 2016.
The incident triggered nationwide protests and drew widespread media attention, both locally and internationally. However, the police could not submit a charge sheet in the case in nine years.
Even after two autopsies at Cumilla Medical College Hospital, the cause of the death could not be determined.
Tonu鈥檚 ailing father, Yaar Hossain, while talking to 抖阴精品, started wailing and said that he had no hope left for justice for his daughter.
鈥楴ine years have passed without justice, and I don鈥檛 think this government will be able to do anything to ensure justice,鈥� he said.
鈥楢lmighty Allah has seen those who killed my daughter and He will punish them,鈥� Yaar Hossain said in despair.
The Criminal Investigation Department previously claimed to have interrogated around 200 individuals, including army personnel, but no significant progress was made.
PBI inspector Tariqul Islam took charge of the case as the latest investigation officer in October last year after being appointed by the PBI headquarters in Dhaka.
PBI deputy inspector general Md Mustafa Kamal told 抖阴精品 on Sunday that the investigation was going on.
鈥楾he investigators are trying to solve the murder case as soon as possible,鈥� he said.
He, however, refrained from commenting on details of the investigation process or the progress in the investigation.
The only confirmed development in the case was that DNA tests proved that Tonu had been raped before her murder.
Sperm from three unidentified individuals was found on her clothes, but the samples did not match any of the known suspects.
The family of college student Mosarat Jahan Munia, whose body was found in a Gulshan flat on April 26, 2021, has demanded a reinvestigation into the rape and murder cases filed against Bashundhara Group managing director Sayem Sobhan Anvir and seven others.
Following Munia鈥檚 death, her sister Nusrat Jahan Tania filed two cases against Anvir, his family members and some others.
On October 19, 2022, the PBI submitted a probe report clearing all the accused, including Anvir, of the charges over the rape and murder of Munia.
A no-confidence petition has been filed recently before the court over clearing all the accused of the charges, Nusrat鈥檚 lawyer Sarwar Hossain said.
鈥榃e will wait for the court鈥檚 decision and act accordingly after the decision,鈥� he added.
