The Centre has extended the “disturbed area” tag under Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) for three districts of Arunachal Pradesh for another six months, while withdrawing it partly from three other districts bordering Assam.
According to a Home Ministry notification issued in New Delhi yesterday, the decision was taken after considering the present law and order situation in the six districts of the state. The three districts which will continue to be designated as disturbed areas under AFSPA are Tirap, Changlang and Longding. The designation, which allows imposition of AFSPA, will also continue for the four police stations areas of the state’s three other districts bordering Assam. They include Namsai and Mahadevpur police stations in Namsai district, Roing in Lower Dibang Valley district and Sunpura in Lohit district.
The notification said the “disturbed area” tag was withdrawn from the four police station areas of the Arunchal’s districts on Assam border, due to the improvement of law and order situation there. The AFSPA is imposed in areas where armed forces are required to operate in aid to civil authorities.