A preliminary link between a cultural figure and the murders of journalist couple Sagar Sarowar and Meherun Runi has been found while reviewing call detail records (CDRs) from another case, International Crimes Tribunal Chief Prosecutor Aminul Islam has said.
However, he declined to disclose the person’s identity at this stage in the interest of a fair investigation.
The chief prosecutor disclosed the information at a press conference at his office on Sunday (August 30), marking the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances.
Aminul Islam said the important lead emerged unexpectedly while investigators were examining another case involving crimes against humanity before the tribunal.
Explaining the new development, he clarified that the formal trial of the Sagar-Runi murder case will be conducted in the regular courts. The tribunal’s prosecution team will assist the investigating agency by providing the newly obtained information, evidence and other relevant materials.
On the prosecution of enforced disappearance cases, the chief prosecutor said only those incidents that directly fall under the law on crimes against humanity will be tried by the International Crimes Tribunal.
Cases involving individual or isolated disappearances will be tried in the country’s regular courts, he said.
Sagar Sarowar, news editor of Maasranga Television, and his wife Meherun Runi, a senior reporter at ATN Bangla, were murdered at their rented home in West Rajabazar in Dhaka on the night of February 11, 2012.