May lift Afspa from entire Assam by December, says CM Himanta Biswa Sarma

GUWAHATI: The contentious Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act that vests extraordinary powers on central security personnel engaged in counter-insurgency operations is likely to be withdrawn by December from the last remaining districts of Assam where the law is still in force, CM Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Monday, reports Prabin Kalita.
According to Sarma, the eight districts and one subdivision where the Afspa was retained after the last review had shown constant improvement in law and order since. Tinsukia, Dibrugarh, Charaideo, Sivasagar, Jorhat, Golaghat, Karbi Anglong and Dima Hasao, bordering Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland, and Lakhipur subdivision of Cachar district, adjoining Manipur, are currently under the purview of the Act. The state government withdrew the legislation from 23 districts and one subdivision with effect from April 1 last year.
Elsewhere in the Northeast, AFSPA is no longer in force in Tripura, Meghalaya and Mizoram.