Centre extends AFSPA in 3 districts, 4 police station areas in Arunachal Pradesh

Itanagar: The Union Home Ministry has declared three districts and four police stations in three other districts in Arunachal Pradesh as "disturbed area" under the Armed Forces Special Provisions Act (AFSPA) for six more months. The order that was notified after reviewing insurgent activities and the law and order situation in those areas, came into effect from October 1.

As per the MHA order, the Tirap, Changlang, and Longding districts in Arunachal Pradesh and the areas falling within the jurisdiction of the four police stations in other districts of Arunachal Pradesh, bordering the State of Assam, have been declared as 'disturbed area' under Section 3 of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 up to March 31, with effect from October 1, 2020, unless withdrawn earlier.

The four police stations that will be under AFSPA are: Namsai PS and Mahadevpur PS in Namsai district, Roing PS in Lower Dibang Valley, and Sunpura PS in Lohit district.

What is AFSPA?

The AFSPA is imposed in areas where armed forces are required to operate in aid to civil authorities.

In Northeast India, the AFSPA is also in force in the States of Assam, Nagaland, and Manipur (excluding Imphal Municipal Council Area).

For AFSPA to become valid, an area, however, needs to be declared disturbed either by the central or the state governments under section 3 of the 1958 Act. According to The Disturbed Areas Act, 1976 once declared 'disturbed', the area has to maintain the status quo for a minimum of 3 months.

Banned militant outfits like NSCN, ULFA, and NDFB, are known to operate on Arunachali soil. 

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