HC turns down bail plea of Sagar-Runi murder accused

The High Court has turned down the bail plea of Md Tanvir Hossain, who was arrested over the murder of a journalist couple in 2012.

A High Court bench of justices Md Rezaul Haque and Gobinda Chnadra Tagore has turned down the bail plea on Tuesday.

The same bench had earlier on July 22 had kept its order pending after hearing the petition and had set September 2 as the date for next hearing.

Police arrested Hossain, a ' family friend' of the murdered couple, and produced him before the court on Oct 10, 2012. The court had then sent him to police custody for seven days.

He has been in jail since the end of his seven-day remand.

Hossain's lawyers, however, claimed he was produced before the court nine days after being arrested.

In Feb 2012, Maasranga Television News Editor Sagar Sarowar and ATN Bangla Senior Reporter Meherun Runi were stabbed to death in the bedroom of their apartment in Dhaka's Razabazaar area.

After police failed to achieve a breakthrough in the case, the High Court asked the RAB to take over the probe on Apr 18, 2012.

The RAB sent DNA samples of 16 suspects to the US along with a knife and some clothes it had collected as evidence from the crime spot.

In October 2013, then Home Minister MK Alamgir said eight killers had been identified and seven of them had already been arrested.

Neither journalists nor the families of the victims found the version credible as five of them were accused in the murder of Dr Nitai Chandra Dey, the leader of an organisation representing doctors.

RAB now says none of the killers have been conclusively identified.