Sagar-Rooney murder case: Task force gets six more months for investigation
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A high-powered task force has been given six months to investigate the Sagar-Rooney murder case on the orders of the High Court. Although the progress report of the investigation has been submitted, the progress is being hampered due to lack of continuity of information and witnesses.
The current task force does not have access to the minister in charge at the time of the incident, other responsible political figures, the investigative agency of the police administration at the time and even those who were in charge of other agencies.
A high-powered task force comprising experts from various agencies has been given another six months to complete the investigation into the murder of journalist couple Sagar Sarwar and Mehrun Rooney. The task force got time for the third time.
In view of the request of the state for time, the High Court bench consisting of Justice Fatema Najib and Justice AFM Saiful Karim gave this time on Sunday.
Earlier, the progress report of the investigation was submitted to the court today. Attorney General for the state in the court. Ruhul Quddus Kajal heard, accompanied by Deputy Attorney General Akhtar Hossain Md. Abdul Wahab. Senior lawyer Mohammad Shishir Monir was in the hearing for the plaintiff. Senior Advocate Manzil Morsed appeared for the writ petitioner.
Attorney General at the hearing. Ruhul Quddus Kajol said that the report on the progress of investigation in the Sagar-Rooney murder case has already been submitted to the office of the Registrar General.
The court said the report came today.
Attorney General Md. Ruhul Quddus Kajal said, ‘They (task force) have asked for time. At the investigation end stage. The officials involved in the investigation of the case at that time cannot be reached.
The court said, “At the end stage, the end is not over.”
The plaintiff’s lawyer Mohammad Shishir Monir said, “We can see the progress report.”
The court said, ‘See? Then the bench officer gave the report to Shishir Monir. After seeing the report, he returned it.
It is better if the report is submitted in the form of an affidavit to the court, said Manzil Morsed, the lawyer of the writ petitioner.
The court said that it is necessary to ask in the report.
Attorney General Ruhul Quddus wants six months at one stage. At this time, Shishir Monir said that the concerned officer can be asked to appear in court with three months’ time. Later the court gave six months time.
RAB was given the responsibility of investigating the case by an order given by the High Court on April 18, 2012 in view of a writ petition. An application was filed in the High Court on behalf of the Home Secretary in September 2024, seeking revision of this order to refer the case to RAB for investigation. After hearing it, on September 30 of the same year, the High Court ordered the formation of a high-powered task force comprising experts from various agencies to investigate the Sagar-Rooney murder case. At the same time, the court was asked to submit a report within six months after the investigation. A high powered committee was constituted after the court order.
The matter came up in the court on April 22 last year in the previous series. Stating that the investigation is ongoing and there is progress, the state side gave RG for 9 months on that day. The court granted six months for the hearing. On October 23 last year, the matter came up in the agenda of the court. The court granted another six months in view of the application made by the state seeking time on that day. As a result, the matter is number five in today’s agenda of the court for orders.
Attorney General in a briefing in his office. Ruhul Quddus Kajal said that RAB has investigated this case for 12 years 6 months 15 days according to the current investigative task force. Eight suspects were arrested throughout the investigation. Seven of them are in jail. One ran away on bail. At last the accused in this case interrogated one Humayun (housekeeper) with the permission of the court.
After the fall of the Awami League government on August 5, 2024, the High Court ordered the formation of a task force in the context of the writ during the interim government. The Attorney General took this issue. Ruhul Quddus Kajol said, after the formation of the task force, the progress report of the investigation was submitted to the court twice. A progress report was given today. That is, the task force has given progress reports three times.
Regarding the progress report, the Attorney General said, the current task force is not getting access to any of the Ministers in charge at the time of the incident (2012), other responsible political figures, investigative agencies of the police administration at the time and even those who were in charge of other agencies. During that period, the familiar faces that I used to see on regular television all the time, after August 5, I didn’t see them. But the incident is from 2012, the task force order is from 2024. Reporting in 2026.
Referring to the crime scene, the first mention of any criminal offence, the Attorney General said, those who are now serving on the task force, did not go there immediately after the incident. When they got the responsibility, but there is no crime scene. However, those who are in charge of the task force have sincerely given detailed reports to the court…. But the main problem mentioned in the report is that when investigating a criminal offence, there is a chain, there is a continuity. The task force cannot maintain that continuity. Because, at that time, those who were primarily in charge of the investigation, took evidence, or interrogated the witness, or arrested the accused outside the witnesses, no systematic transfer of the information received from the task force. They are not getting any access to that information. This is the main obstacle. I told the court about this obstacle. After hearing that, he gave six months to report the progress.
On February 11, 2012, Sagar and Rooney, a journalist couple, were murdered in a rented house in West Rajabazar of the capital. At that time Sagar was working in private television channel Machranga Television and Rooney was working in ATN Bengali. In the Sagar-Rooney murder case, Rooney’s brother Nowsher Alam filed a case in the capital’s Sherebangla Nagar police station as a plaintiff.
The lawyer of the plaintiff Mohammad Shishir Monir said in a briefing, today it has been almost 14 years, the mystery of the murder has not been revealed by law and order forces… Time has been taken after the formation of the task force. Today they (task force) came with the report saying that so and so should be asked more. Those who have to be asked say that they cannot be asked. Because they are missing. They are not in the country. Can’t find them. We all know their names. The people indicated in the progress report that they will talk to after the pot change, those people are not within the limits of Bangladesh….They want to talk to the then Home Minister, IGP, RAB DG and a journalist whom they are talking about here. What they want to say, they are not within the limits of Bangladesh. In four or five places they said no, no, no… Among them, the notable said that they have not yet found the motive, they have not found the clue, why they were killed. Marital strife, not saying. Business conflict, not saying. Professionals do not say anything. A matter of land-holding, not saying…It is a surprise to all of us that such an incident would happen, everyone would show failure.
Commenting that everyone is moving towards a failure, Shishir Monir said, ‘…six months have been given, they say, I don’t see the possibility of getting them to Bangladesh within six months….Even if the task force also fails, then we have nowhere to go. However, we hope that the Attorney General’s Office will implement the statement in support of them (the task force) within the next six months. Then we will be optimistic.
Source: Prothom Alo Bangla
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