Itanagar/Kohima, Sep 26
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has extended the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) in certain districts of Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland for another six months with effect from October 1, officials said on Thursday.
An MHA notification said that the AFSPA has been extended for another six months in Tirap, Changlang, and Longding districts in Arunachal Pradesh as well as areas under the jurisdiction of Namsai, Mahadevpur, and Chowkham police stations in Namsai district, bordering Assam.
A separate notification of the MHA said that the AFSPA was extended in eight districts -- Dimapur, Niuland, Chumoukedima, Mon, Kiphire, Noklak, Phek, and Peren -- and 21 police station areas in five other districts of Nagaland, which has a total of 16 districts.
Officials in Itanagar and Kohima said the Centre took the step following a review of the law and order situation in Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland.
Nagaland has 215 km of unfenced borders with Myanmar while Arunachal Pradesh has 1,817 km borders with China, Myanmar and Bhutan.
The AFSPA empowers the Army, para-military, and other security forces to arrest a person without a warrant, enter or search premises without a warrant, along with some other actions.
With the improvement in the security situation in the northeastern states, the Centre, in April 2022, reduced the number of disturbed areas under AFSPA in many areas of Nagaland, Assam and Manipur.
With significant improvement in the security situation, it was lifted from Tripura in 2015, Meghalaya in 2018 and Mizoram in the 1980s.