The Centre has extended the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act in three districts of Arunachal Pradesh – Tirap, Changlang, Longding for 6 months.
It has also extended the act in areas falling within the jurisdiction of two police stations – Namsai and Mahadevpur, which shares its border with Assam by another 6 months, thereby declaring them as a ‘disturbed area’.
The decision has been undertaken in view of continuing activities of banned insurgent groups.
The Central Government has imposed the following in exercise of the powers conferred by Section 3 of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 (28 of 1958).
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The latest Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) order has reduced the restrictions in some areas falling under the jurisdiction of two police stations, which were earlier declared as ‘disturbed area’. These include – Roing Police Station in Lower Dibang Valley district and Sunpura Police Station in Lohit district.
The centre had recently carried out further review of the law-and-order situation in aforementioned three districts of Arunachal Pradesh.
“Now, therefore, Tirap, Changlang and Longding districts in Arunachal Pradesh and the areas falling within the jurisdiction of Namsai and Mahadevpur police stations in Namsai district of Arunachal Pradesh, bordering the state of Assam, are declared as ‘disturbed area’ under Section 3 of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 from 01.10.2021 to 31.03.2022 unless withdrawn earlier,” the notification stated.
Armed Forces Special Powers Act, 1958 is an act of the Parliament of India that grant special powers to the Indian Armed Forces to maintain public order in “disturbed areas”.
According to an official, some parts of Arunachal Pradesh have the presence of banned militant outfits like National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN), United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), and National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB).