Law-and-order situation 'excellent' in Assam: CM Himanta Biswa Sarma

NEW DELHI: With insurgent activities on the wane and crime rate coming down, Assam's record in maintaining law and order has been 'excellent' in recent years, said Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who also holds the Home portfolio, while addressing the 'Chintan Shivir on Internal Security' chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah at Surajkund in Haryana on Thursday.

While highlighting that no major insurgency-related incident took place in Assam in recent years, Sarma said that the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) too had been withdrawn from 65 per cent geographical area of the state, informed an official communiqué.

Sarma also dwelt on 'proactive implementation' of the Bodo Accord and rehabilitation of surrendered cadres. He said that though a new Bodo militant outfit called ULB was formed on September 15, 2021, all the cadres of the outfit surrendered on September 29, 2021 due to proactive actions of the police. The Chief Minister added that police actions also led to the surrender of the chairman and deputy commander-in-chief of DNLA, another militant outfit, along with other cadres. The state government later signed a ceasefire agreement with the outfit on October 20, 2021. Besides,164 cadres of the National Liberation Front of Bodoland (NLFB), also a Bodo insurgent outfit, and a senior Maoist cadre surrendered on September 28 last year.

The Chief Minister, while underlining the achievements of Assam Police, termed it as a "professional police force with a glorious past", being decorated with the coveted 'President's Colours' award in May this year.

Sarma later tweeted: "Honoured to share my ideas on bolstering internal security at Chintan Shivir of states' HMs chaired by Adarniya Union HM Shri@Amit Shahji at Surajkund, Haryana. Held in the true spirit of collaborative federalism, such exchanges help widen our perspectives and boost policing."

The first-ever 'Chintan Shivir' (introspection session), organized by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, is being attended by several Chief Ministers, who also hold the Home portfolio, deputy CMs, state Home Ministers, Lieutenant Governors and administrators of UTs as well as home secretaries and police chiefs to provide a common platform to discuss ways to deal with internal security challenges as part of 'Vision 2047' outlined by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Independence Day address.

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