Had Tanvir Muhammad Taqi been alive, he would have been 30 today. But that was not to be.

On this day in 2013, killers brutally murdered the brilliant 17-year-old -- a boy loved by everyone in the closely-knit port city of Narayanganj.

For the past 13 years, the Taqi murder case has remained one of Bangladesh's most high-profile unsolved mysteries, a tragic casualty of a persistent culture of impunity.

On March 6, 2013, Taqi went missing after leaving his home in Narayanganj for a local library. Two days later, his body was found floating in a canal linked to the Shitalakshya River.

Initial leads suggested that unraveling the mystery and booking the killers would be a matter of a few days.

However, the truth proved too "sensitive" to even discuss.

The wall of silence was so thick that a local newspaper office came under attack as recently as 2022 simply for questioning why the perpetrators were not being pursued.

Over the years, the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) -- the agency investigating the case -- has held numerous briefings to offer assurances that they were "close" to filing a charge sheet.

Unfortunately, these words have proven hollow. The probe has been effectively stalled for 13 years.

As of March 6, 2026, the charge sheet has yet to be officially submitted to the court, despite a record 101 scheduled hearing dates passing by.

It has become public knowledge in Narayanganj that Taqi was brutally tortured at a business facility owned by a powerful local family.

Following those early leads, law enforcers arrested several individuals and even gleaned confessional statements from at least a couple of accomplices.

Yet, for reasons beyond public knowledge, the case refused to budge until the political changeover of 2024.

It is disheartening that despite the high expectations for progress over the last year and a half, very little has changed. Aside from a few more arrests and renewed promises, the deadlock remains.

As recently as November 2025, RAB-11 announced the investigation was at its "final stage" and the charge sheet would be submitted "soon."

Yet here we are in March 2026, and the file remains empty.

Throughout this ordeal, amidst threats and intimidation, Taqi’s father, Rafiur Rabbi, has held his head high.

A prominent cultural activist and rights campaigner, Rabbi has been vocal about how powerful quarters have successfully stalled the investigation.

It is a damning indictment of our state apparatus that even a man of his stature cannot secure justice for his son.

Six days ago, a group of eminent citizens issued a statement demanding immediate action, noting that the trial never truly began.

They rightly recalled that back in 2013, two of the killers gave confessional statements under Section 164, detailing the murder. By March 2014, RAB had even held a press conference outlining the why, when, where, how, and by whom Taqi was killed.

If the blueprint of the crime has been known for 12 years, why does the investigation remain stalled?

Even the interim government, despite initial interest following the 2024 uprising, has failed to move the needle significantly.

Taqi was a budding poet and a brilliant science student. At 17, he had the potential to become a model citizen and contribute to nation-building.

His life was cut short in the most heinous way by assailants who lacked any sense of humanity.

After a decade of leads, arrests, and confessions, is it still too hard to press charges? If justice is not served after 13 years, Taqi’s soul will haunt the conscience of this nation forever.

Reaz Ahmad is Editor, Dhaka Tribune.