Guwahati: The Assam government on Friday extended the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 in four districts for six months starting from April 1. The state government’s political department issued a notification, stating that the ‘Disturbed Area’ tag under the AFSPA has been extended in areas covering Tinsukia, Dibrugarh, Charaideo and Sivasagar districts. The extension of AFSPA has been extended till September 30 2024. It is significant that the Ministry of Home Affairs in a separate notification had extended the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958, in eight districts and 21 police stations in five districts of Nagaland, with effect from April 1 this year after declaring them as ‘disturbed area’ on Thursday. The AFSPA was extended in Assam after the Assam Police submitted a report, asserting that there was an improvement in the law and order situation in the state, barring one militant organisation being active in the four districts. Security sources said that the state government’s home and political department submitted a proposal to this effect to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, which, after due consideration, decided to maintain the ‘status quo’ regarding ‘disturbed areas’ for an additional six-month period. The Act empowers security forces to conduct operations anywhere and arrest anyone without any prior warrant. It also gives a certain level of immunity to the security forces in case of misplaced operations.
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