Sagar-Runi murder accused Tanvir gets bail from High Court

The High Court has finally granted bail to Md Tanvir Rahman, arrested over the murder of journalist couple Sagar Sarowar and Meherun Runi in 2012.

The bench of Justices Md Nizamul Haque and SH Md Nurul Huda Jaigerder granted the interim bail on Monday.

The plaintiff’s lawyer Fawzia Karim Firoz represented Tanvir Rahman, while attorney general Mahbub-e-Alam, deputy attorney general Amit Talukder and assistant attorney general Shahidul Islam Khan represented the state.

A High Court bench of Justices Md Rezaul Haque and Gobinda Chnadra Tagore had earlier turned down a bail plea on Sep 2.

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), too, had sought Tanvir’s bail on July 13. The appeal was heard that day by the bench of Justices Mirza Hussain Haider and Muhammad Khurshid Alam Sarkar.

The petition was filed against the judicial court’s repeated rejection of bail appeals.

Police arrested the deputy manager of the Scholastica School in Dhaka, Tanvir Rahman, a 'family friend' of the murdered couple.

He was produced before the court on Oct 10, 2012. The court had then sent him to police custody for seven days.

Tanvir’s lawyer, however, claimed he was produced before the court 10 days after his detention.

Meanwhile, several of his bail appeals were turned down by the judicial court and the High Court.

Tanvir’s father, Mahbubur Rahman, in February this year, appealed to the NHRC, seeking its help in getting his son released.

He said his son was being held in prison without trial. NHRC and its Chairman Mizanur Rahman then filed a petition for Tanvir’s release.

On Feb 11, 2012, Maasranga Television News Editor Sagar Sarowar and ATN Bangla Senior Reporter Meherun Runi were brutally murdered in their West Rajabazar rented apartment in capital Dhaka.

Police claimed ‘remarkable progress’ in the probe within a few days. But they were nowhere near arresting the killers and later admitted failure.

This prompted the High Court in April 2012 to hand over the investigation to the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB).

After taking charge, the elite force had sent DNA samples of 16 suspects to the US along with a knife and samples of clothes as evidence. But the killers are yet to be identified.

However, the home ministry, in October last year, had claimed credit for cracking the case, producing a list of eight killers.

Neither journalists nor the families of the victims found that version credible, as five of them were accused in the murder of Dr Nitai Chandra Dey, a leader of a doctors’ professional body.