It also ordered issuance of a show cause notice on the assistant commissioner (Uttara zone) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police as to why action will not be taken against him for failing to properly supervise the investigation.

Shahana, headmistress of Ashulia Government Primary School, was killed by a gang of robbers at her Uttara residence in the capital on April 17.

The monitoring cell at a meeting decided that from now on punitive action will taken against the officers-in-charge (OCs), superintendents of police and deputy commissioners concerned if significant progress is not made in probing the cases listed with it, meeting sources said.

Earlier, action was taken only against the IOs and the supervising officers.

The meeting chaired by State Minister of Home Luthfozzaman Babar reviewed investigation into 13 sensational cases of murder, including the murder of Rajshahi University Professor Mohammad Younus, Khulna journalists Human Kabir Balu and Sheikh Belal Uddin and the headmistress of Shiddheswari High School and her daughter.

The meeting asked the IO of Prof Younus murder case to press charges by May 15.

The cell had earlier summoned IO of Belal murder case and OC of Khulna Sadar Police Station Mohammad Iqbal to appear before it yesterday as the chargesheet in the case submitted on Monday did not contain the names of the masterminds behind the murder.

It rebuked the IO for not mentioning the name of Jamaat-e-Islami leader Shahabuddin Lashkar alias Dhira, suspected as a mastermind, and ordered inclusion of his name in the chargesheet and arresting him, a meeting source said.

Khulna journalists had earlier rejected the chargesheet.

After the meeting yesterday, Babar told reporters the deputy inspector general (DIG) of police, Khulna range, told him " He (DIG) had talked to Belal Uddin's son, he did not make any objection to the chargesheet and demanded immediate trial of the murder of his father."

The meeting ordered completion of investigation into all cases listed with the cell within 15 days to one month.