Tribunal mulled to try polls-time attackers

The government has decided to set up a special tribunal to deal with cases related to election violence, particularly the atrocities on minorities, State Minister for Home Shamsul Haque Tuku said yesterday.
The tribunal is a permanent measure to stop recurrence of such violence, he told The Daily Star by phone, but could not say when it will be created and cases from which period it will deal with.
In this connection, the ministry yesterday sent a letter to the law ministry, and asked local police and district administrations to send the lists of cases filed over the recent attacks on minorities to the home ministry, said Deputy Home Secretary Mohammad Mizanur Rahman.
The cases over arson, vandalism, rape and other attacks on minorities will be shifted to the speedy trial tribunal for quick disposal in a bid to check further violence, he added.
The move came against the backdrop of recent attacks on the houses, business centres and temples of Hindus in Jessore, Satkhira, Thakurgaon, Chittagong, Bogra, Rangpur and Dinajpur.
According to the letter sent to the law ministry, the government wants to ensure quick adjudication of the cases relating to arson, looting and grabbing of the property of minorities.
A top official of the home ministry said, "We will consider the cases filed in connection with recent election violence, and violence tied to the war crimes trial."
The home ministry letter signed by the deputy secretary was also sent to the inspector general of police, divisional commissioners, police commissioners and deputy inspector general of police alongside DCs and SPs for taking steps in this regard.