A Dhaka court on Wednesday set 5 November for filing the probe report in the sensational case lodged over the murders of journalist couple Sagar Sarowar and Meherun Runi, extending the deadline for the 130th time.

Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Ariful Islam passed the order as the Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) failed to submit the report on the scheduled date, said prosecution division sub-inspector Rafikul Islam.

The journalist couple was brutally murdered at their rented flat in the city’s West Rajabazar on 11 February 2012, in the presence of their then four-year-old son, Mahir Sarwar Megh. Runi’s brother, Nawser Alam, later filed a murder case with Sher-e-Bangla Nagar Police Station.

Initially, the Detective Branch (DB) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) was entrusted with investigating the murder case, which was later transferred to the RAB. The elite crime-busting agency failed to submit the investigation report despite seeking time 111 times over the past 12 years.

On 30 September 2024, the High Court ordered the formation of a high-powered task force through the Ministry of Home Affairs to probe the case.

The government formed a four-member task force on 23 October 2024 through a notification issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs, with the Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) named as the task force convener.