THE unresolved murder case of journalist couple Sagar Sarwar and Meherun Runi is one of the many cases that contributed to public perception that the legal system was working to protect the partisan interests of the now-deposed Awami League regime. The couple were found dead in their rented flat on February 11, 2012, at Pashchim Rajabazar in the capital. The investigation changed hands twice since the murders — the Detective Branch stepped in after the police had worked for a couple of days, and then the Rapid Action Battalion took over in April 2012. As the investigating agency failed to submit the probe report, a Dhaka magistrate court on September 9 extended the deadline for submission of the report for the 111th time. In February, the comment of the former law minister tried to justify the delay when he said that if the investigation needs 50 years to find the killers of the journalist couple, it will have to be given 50 years. In what follows, the speculations that the unjustifiable delay in submitting the probe report is not only the consequence of the procedural weakness of the law enforcement agencies, it may also be intentional to protect the interests of the vested quarter. Against this backdrop, a RAB director’s comment that the interim government has given the case ‘highest priority’ is particularly significant because, if translated into action, it could restore public trust in the legal system.
The journalist couple murder case, however, is not the only criminal case that remained unresolved for decades. On September 8, eminent citizens urged the interim government for the speedy trial of the murder case of Tanwir Muhammad Taqi, who was found dead two days after he was allegedly abducted on March 8, 2013. Despite statements made before the court by two of the murder suspects that a son of the late Jatiya Party lawmaker and nephew of the former Awami League lawmaker planned and executed the murder, the investigation was stalled, and it was alleged that the deposed prime minister deliberately supported the killers of Taqi. The concerned court has set a date for the submission of the chargesheet for at least 60 times and the investigating agency recently denied their own findings that they have no conclusive evidence, lending credence to the victim family’s claim that the law enforcement agencies are covering up crime instead of bringing criminals to justice. A similar experience is recounted by the family members of Shohagi Jahan Tanu, who was raped and murdered inside Cumilla Cantonment in March 2016.
The interim government must, therefore, remain true to their words and expand the scope of their investigation to identify those who allegedly interfered and delayed the legal and judicial process and expeditiously establish justice for journalist couple Sagar and Runi, Taqi, Tanu, Kalpna Chakma, and other similar unresolved cases.
