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DCs complain against cops

Seeks to empower executive magistrates to contain crime

M Abul Kalam Azad and M Rahman
The non-cooperation of the police with the local administration has been hampering efforts to maintain law and order, a num-
ber of deputy commissioners complained to the prime minister yesterday.
They demanded that executive magistrates be given the
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authority to conduct summary trials, in addition to their responsibility of running mobile courts, in order to check criminal activities in the districts.
The administrators sought necessary amendments to the Code of Criminal Procedure to allow executive magistrates to have such authority. They made the same demand at last year's DCs' conference.
They urged the prime minister to take steps to resolve the issues, a number of DCs said after a closed-door meeting with Sheikh Hasina at the Prime Minister's Office yesterday.
The magistrates now do not have the authority to conduct summary trials because of the separation of the judiciary from the executive. However, they can hold such trials only when die accused confess to their crimes.
The deputy commissioners once again raised the issue of contempt of court before the prime minister.
Last year, the administrators said they could not perform properly and found it difficult to protect national interests in many cases
because of the fear of contempt of court.
“This year, the deputy commissioners told the prime minister to expedite the process of framing the proposed Contempt of Court Law 2011,” a cabinet division official told The Daily Star after the meeting.
The proposed law remains pending with the parliamentary standing committee on law, justice and parliamentary affairs ministry. The committee is yet to clear the draft of the law.
The DCs said a shortage of manpower was hampering government programmes on e-governance.
They also suggested involving all government and semi-government offices in the upazilas and districts to control population growth. Development activities would be hampered badly if population growth could not be controlled, they observed.
The administrators recommended appointing experts in every district to check adulteration of food.
Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution must be active in every district, said Dinajpur Deputy
Commissioner Jamal Uddin Ahmed.
He called upon the prime minister to consider their demand for rewarding wellperforming deputy commissioners.
Dhaka Deputy Commissioner Mohibul I laque said 80 percent of land documents were very old and in bad shape. He suggested that land records be digitised immediately to minimise disputes overland.
lie said the family planning department alone could not control population growth. The government must engage all governmental and semi-governmental organisations in all upazilas and districts to control population growth.
Rajshahi Divisional Commissioner Abdul Mannan said it was not possible to curb crimes with the regular police force alone. I Ie stressed the need for provision of training and logistic support to the village police to help them curb crimes in the rural areas.
The deputy commissioners assured the prime minister that they would help the government mobilise funds for the Padma bridge project.
Meanwhile, State Minister for Home Shamsul Hoque Tuku asked the district and police administration to launch a combing operation against drug traffickers, saying it was a major concern for the government.
Some local politicians and a section of unscrupulous law enforcers were involved in drug trafficking, said the minister.
"Drug peddling has become a major problem in the districts and the administration must take stern action against whoever is involved in the illegal trade,” Tuku told reporters after the DCs' conference at the secretariat.
He also asked the administrators to raise social awareness about the adverse impact of drug abuse.
The minister said the Department of Narcotics would be strengthened to curb drug-related crimes.
Many deputy commissioners pointed out that drugs were being smuggled into the country through different border points.
They said district jails were in a poor state, and demanded that they be renovated and given more facilities.