Police 'sure' about murder motive

Police on Sunday said they are 'almost certain' about the motive behind the killings of the journalist couple Sagar Sarowar and Meherun Runi.Full story

Dhaka, Feb 26 (bdnews24.com)—Police on Sunday said they are 'almost certain' about the motive behind the killings of the journalist couple Sagar Sarowar and Meherun Runi.

"We are almost certain about the motive but cannot disclose it for the sake of the investigation," Dhaka Metropolitan Police's ADC Mohammad Monirul Islam told the journalists at his office.

He dismissed the idea of carrying 'block raid' in the capital and detaining or arresting anyone in connection with the murder.

On Feb 11, Maasranga Television news editor Golam Mostofa Sarowar, alias Sagar Sarowar, and his wife, ATN Bangla senior reporter Meherun Nahar Runi, were found murdered at their flat in the city's west Rajabazar area.

Inspector general of police (IGP) Hassan Mahmood Khandker had earlier claimed "remarkable progress" in solving the Sagar-Runi case within a 48-hour deadline set by the home minister on the day of the murder.

But 15 days on, police are yet to make any arrests or name suspects.

When journalists asked Islam about the progress in the probe, Monirul Islam said, "Huge progress have been made but we cannot quantify it now."

He also dismissed several news reports that police had detained a number of people in Gazipur and Munshiganj for questioning.

"Several newspapers talked about block raids. Those who wrote about it might have done so based on their own information," Islam added.

"These statements have been published as many do not have clear idea about block raid."

When his attention was drawn to the information posted on the social networking sites and blogs about the murders, he said, "I have seen from my experience that whenever any 'big' incident occurs, some people tend to spread rumours. It was no different this time, too."

The ADC said he had received at least 20 anonymous letters so far and many text messages with each one of them suggesting different names of the killers and their motives.

When asked if his remark meant the writings and posts on the internet are not being looked into with importance, Islam said, "We are attaching importance to everything."

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