3 Arunachal districts declared ‘disturbed’ under AFSPA by govt for 6 more months

Three districts in Arunachal Pradesh have been declared "disturbed" under the AFSPA by the central government for six more months following a review of the law and order situation there.

According to a Home Ministry notification, the clampdown has also been extended in four police station areas falling under three other districts.

It said the Centre exercising powers conferred by Section 3 of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 (28 of 1958) had declared Tirap, Changlang and Longding districts and the area falling in the jurisdiction of four police stations in the districts of Arunachal Pradesh bordering Assam as "disturbed area" on April 1.

A further review of the law and order situation in Tirap, Changlang and Longding districts and in the area falling within the jurisdiction of four police stations was undertaken.

"Now, Tirap, Changlang and Longding districts in Arunachal Pradesh and areas falling within the jurisdiction of the following four police stations in other 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Section 3 of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 up to March 31, 2020 with effect from October 1, 2019, unless withdrawn earlier," the notification issued on Tuesday said.

The four police station are Namsai and Mahadevpur police stations in Namsai district, Roing police station in Lower Dibang Valley district and Sunpura police station in Lohit district.

The AFSPA is imposed in areas where armed forces are required to operate in aid to civil authorities. For AFSPA to become valid, an area, however, needs to be declared disturbed either by the central or the state governments under the section 3 of the 1958 Act.

Some parts of Arunachal Pradesh have presence of banned militant outfits like NSCN, ULFA and NDFB, an official said.