AFSPA extended in 4 Assam districts, withdrawn from 4 others

The Assam Police on Sunday said the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act or AFSPA has been extended in four districts of the state for six more months.
At the Assam Police Day 2023 celebrations here, DGP Gyanendra Pratap Singh said the ‘disturbed area’ tag, which allows enforcement of the AFSPA, has, however, been withdrawn from four other districts. “From today, only four districts in Assam will have AFSPA. These are Dibrugarh, Tinsukia, Sivasagar and Charaideo,” he said. The AFSPA has been withdrawn from Jorhat, Golaghat, Karbi Anglong and Dima Hasao with effect from October 1, Singh said. The Assam government had last extended the ‘disturbed area’ notification under the AFSPA for another six months with effect from April 1 in these eight districts.
The AFSPA empowers security forces to conduct operations and arrest anyone without any prior warrant, besides giving immunity from arrest and prosecution to the forces if they shoot someone dead.
“Assam has reached a peaceful stage after passing through a volatile phase during the last 30-40 years. Due to the hard work of Assam Police, Army and para military forces, we have this peaceful atmosphere. I thank all of them,” the DGP said.
During this period, the maximum contribution was received from lower-ranked personnel like the constables of all forces, he said.
“I would like to say that we cannot forget the contributions of the home guards and VDP (village defence party). We have around 25,000 VDPs and 10,000 home guards,” Singh said. He also said that Assam Police is continuously working towards improving the overall law and order situation of the state. On September 9, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had said that the cabinet approved recommendation for withdrawal of the ‘Disturbed Area’ tag under AFSPA from the remaining eight districts.
The AFSPA was first imposed in Assam in November 1990, and has been extended every six months since then after review by the state government.