Centre declares 3 Arunachal Pradesh districts as ‘disturbed areas’ under AFSPA

New Delhi, Oct 01: The government has declared three districts of Arunachal Pradesh and areas falling under two police stations in another district "disturbed" under the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act for six more months.

The Union Home Ministry's notification will be effective from October 1, 2021, to March 31, 2022.

"The central government in exercise of the powers conferred by Section 3 of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 (28 of 1958) had declared the Tirap, Changlang and Longding districts of Arunachal Pradesh and the area falling within the jurisdiction of four police stations - two in Namsai district and one each in Lower Dibang and Lohit districts of bordering state Assam - as 'disturbed area' through a notification on 1 April 2021," the notification read.

"Now, therefore, Tirap, Changlang and Longding districts in Arunachal Pradesh and the areas falling within the jurisdiction of Namsai and Mahadevpur police stations in Namsai district of Arunachal Pradesh, bordering the state of Assam, are declared as ''disturbed area'' under Section 3 of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 from 01.10.2021 to 31.03.2022 unless withdrawn earlier," the notification said.

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 section 3 of the 1958 Act.

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