Assam removes AFSPA from four districts, extends it to four others

Assam DGP Gyanendra Pratap Singh announced the decision during his address at the Assam Police Day celebrations in Guwahati on Sunday

The Assam government has decided to remove application of the contentious Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act from four districts while extending it to four others for a period of six months.

AFSPA gives sweeping powers to the Army to search, detain, arrest and even shoot if needed for maintenance of law and order in areas which are notified as ‘disturbed’. (Representative Image)

Director general of police (DGP) Gyanendra Pratap Singh announced the decision during his address at a programme to celebrate the Assam Police Day in Guwahati on Sunday. For AFSPA to be enforced, the state government or Centre has to notify the same.

“From today, only four districts in the state will have AFSPA. They are Dibrugarh, Tinsukia, Sivasagar and Charaideo,” the DGP said while adding that four districts, Jorhat, Golaghat, Karbi Anglong and Dima Hasao have been removed from its purview.

The banned United Liberation Front of Asom-Independent (ULFA-I), which has bases in neighbouring Mynamar, is still active in the four districts, where the legislation will continue to be enforced.

AFSPA gives sweeping powers to the Army to search, detain, arrest and even shoot if needed for maintenance of law and order in areas which are notified as “disturbed”.

AFSPA was first enforced across Assam in 1990 at the height of insurgency by ULFA. It has been extended every six months since then with some areas getting excluded after a review of the law and order situation on the ground.

Last year in April, the Centre removed application of AFSPA from all areas in Assam except 9 districts and one sub-division in one district. In October last year, the purview of the legislation was further reduced to eight districts.