AFSPA withdrawn from 28 out of 35 districts in Assam, says top cop

Recently, Sarma said the Assam government was working to remove AFSPA from five more districts as the law and order situation in the state had improved considerably during the last two years.

Time8 Webdesk
May 27, 2023
6:04 pm

Guwahati: Assam government has been able to withdraw Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) from 28 out of 35 districts, said Assam Director General of Police (DGP) GP Singh on Saturday.

Singh said that the deployment of the Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) in the state has declined as the law-and-order situation has improved.

The state has also been able to reduce the deployment of central paramilitary force in field duty from 210 companies a few years ago to 73, he added.

Meanwhile, Singh also stated that the state police has been able to provide transparent and fair recruitment as well as improved training and capacity building.

Taking to Twitter, DGP GP Singh wrote, “With the vision of Hon’ble @CMOfficeAssam @himantabiswa of Assam, his supervision and the support of the people of Assam @assampolice has been able to provide transparent and fair recruitment as well as improved training and capacity building. Through such measures, we have been able to withdraw the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) from 28 out of 36 districts.”

“The deployment of the Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) in the state has also declined as the law-and-order situation has improved. The number of CAPF forces deployed in the state has been reduced to 73 from 210 a few years ago. We have taken steps so that we do not have to look back,” Singh added.

Earlier, on Monday (May 22) Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that the state government aims to withdraw Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) completely from the state by 2023-end.
“We are aiming at withdrawing AFSPA completely from Assam by the end of 2023. We will also rope in ex-military personnel to train our police force,” said Sarma.

Recently, Sarma said the Assam government was working to remove AFSPA from five more districts as the law and order situation in the state had improved considerably during the last two years. The removal of the AFSPA from 60 per cent of the state and signing of peace accords with several armed groups of the state has led to an atmosphere of peace, the Chief Minister had said.