Guwahati: The ministry of home affairs on Wednesday extended the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act in three trouble-torn districts of Arunachal Pradesh and eight police stations bordering Assam for next six months.
The extension of the AFSPA was necessity because of continuous movement of armed cadres of outlawed Ulfa (I), NDFB and NSCN factions, the officials said.
“Now, therefore, Tirap, Changlang and Longding districts in Arunachal Pradesh and the areas falling within the jurisdiction of the following eight police stations in the districts of Arunachal Pradesh, bordering the state of Assam, are declared as ‘disturbed area’ under Section 3 of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 up to March 31, 2019 with effect from October 1, 2018, unless withdrawn earlier,” the ministry of home affairs in its notification said.
The police stations include Balemu and Bhalukpong police stations in West Kameng district, Seijosa police station in East Kameng district, Balijan police station in Papumpare district, Namsai and Mahadevpur police stations in Namsai district, Roing police station in Lower Dibang Valley district and Sunpura police station in Lohit district.
The decision was taken following a review of the law and order situation in the three districts and eight police station areas.
Pointing out that decision to extend AFSPA was taken after a review meeting of Northeast DGPs and IGPs, which was held in Itanagar recently, security sources said that it has been noticed that insurgent groups holed up in Myanmar have been using these three districts as their corridor to launch offensives in Assam.
While referring intelligence inputs, sources said that Ulfa (I) and NDFB militants were found to have been carrying out extortion drive in Assam from Arunachal Pradesh.
