AFSPA Extended in Manipur, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh

The Central Government has renewed the application of Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 (AFSPA) in certain areas of Manipur, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh for an additional six months. The renewal will come into effect from October 1, 2026 till March 31, 2027, or until such earlier withdrawal. Notifications regarding the same have been issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) after reviewing the law and order situation in the said three States. State wise notifications are maintained by the MHA on areas declared as “disturbed areas” in terms of AFSPA.

AFSPA in Manipur

Under AFSPA, the declaration of the State of Manipur as “disturbed area” under section 3 has been extended, except for certain areas falling under the jurisdiction of 13 police stations in five districts.

The exempted police station areas are as follows,

• Imphal
• Lamphel
• City
• Singjamei
• Patsoi
• Wangoi
• Porompat
• Heingang
• Irilbung
• Thoubal
• Bishnupur
• Nambol
• Kakching

Therefore, the extension is applicable only to certain police station areas in the state of Manipur.

AFSPA in Nagaland

In Nagaland, the renewal shall be in respect of the following nine districts,

• Dimapur
• Niuland
• Chumoukedima
• Mon
• Kiphire
• Noklak
• Phek
• Peren
• Meluri

The application of AFSPA would continue in areas under 21 police stations in five other districts, viz., Kohima, Mokokchung, Longleng, Wokha and Zunheboto.

AFSPA in Arunachal Pradesh

The “disturbed area” order shall continue to apply to the following three districts of Arunachal Pradesh,

• Tirap district
• Changlang district
• Longding district

It also applies to areas under Namsai, Mahadevpur and Chowkham police stations in Namsai district, which is contiguous to Assam. This arrangement has always been there in earlier orders of the Central Government regarding AFSPA in Arunachal Pradesh.

What is AFSPA?

The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 refers to a piece of legislation that grants specified special powers to the armed forces in “disturbed areas” as defined in the Act.

Section 3 of the Act enables the appropriate Government to declare an area to be a disturbed area if it is of the opinion that the use of armed forces is necessary for restoring and maintaining order in such a situation.

Upon the application of AFSPA, the designated personnel get specified powers conferred upon them by the Act, subject to the provisions of the Act.

Powers under AFSPA

This Act grants some specific powers to the authorized armed-forces personnel, which include,

• Use of force and also force which might result in death under specified circumstances.
• To arrest without warrant under specified circumstances.
• To search without warrant under specified circumstances.
• To destroy any arms dump or fortified position of an armed group and any shelter being used by an armed group, as per the provisions of the Act.