Will Sagar-Runi murder remain unsolved?

It has been more than 11 years since journalist couple Sagar Sarwar and Mehrun Runi were found dead in their flat at Pashchim Razabazar in Dhaka. However, the law enforcement agencies are yet to complete an investigation into the murder of the journalists and bring the perpetrators to justice. Surprisingly, the Rapid Action Battalion has so far taken time from the court a total of 100 times to submit the probe report but have not yet submitted it. Questions have been raised as to why the RAB is not able to submit the report even after investigating the murder case for more than a decade. This is unprecedented and unacceptable. Such a delay is also a denial of justice and generates frustration among people.
Sagar and Runi were reportedly stabbed to death in their home in front of their 5-year-old son on February 12, 2012. The whole nation was in great shock after the couple's murder. With the passage of time, public memory of the incident is getting dimmer. Except on their death anniversaries at seminars, or on occasions of observing journalists' rights, we do not make much reference to them anymore. Is the Sagar-Runi murder going to remain a crime that our law enforcement agencies cannot figure out who committed it?
Such a situation just cannot go on for years. When crimes against journalists go unpunished, they encourage the perpetrators to carry out more attacks, threats and killings with the intention of intimidating the media into silence. So, we urge the authorities concerned to conduct a prompt, thorough, independent and effective investigation and bring the perpetrators of Sagar and Run murder to justice as well as solve other killings of journalists in Bangladesh.

Ashikujaman Syed,
Foreign Service Officer,
Anhui Haikang Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd,
Anqing, China,
syedashikujaman@yahoo.com