The Union Home Ministry has removed Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) from Meghalaya and reduced it to eight police stations in Arunachal Pradesh, an official said on Monday.
AFSPA was totally withdrawn from all areas of Meghalaya from April 1. In Arunachal, it is down from 16 police stations to 8.
The Act was withdrawn from Tripura in 2015 and in past one year, fewer areas in northeast are under the Act, the official said, adding that the Act was only in place in Meghalaya for a 20-km area along the Assam border and not in operation in Mizoram.
In March 2018, the Ministry of Home Affairs said they had sanctioned the deployment of 10 India Reserve Battalion in northeast – two each for Assam, Arunachal, Manipur, Meghalaya and Tripura. They are being raised to replace central forces deployed in the northeast.
