Agartala, Oct 13 (IANS) Tripura’s Left Front government has extended for another six months the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA), a controversial anti-terror law enacted 50 years ago that gives sweeping powers to the security forces deployed in the region to counter insurgency, an official Tuesday said.
“Though militancy has come down in Tripura, the state government is averse to taking any chances for some more time,” a state home department official said.

Of the 64 police stations in Tripura, the AFSPA is in force in 34 police stations and partially in six police stations since 1997.

“The state level coordination committee (SLCC), supervising the anti-insurgency operation in the state, last week reviewed the overall situation and suggested to extend the AFSPA’s term by another six months. The state government has accepted the recommendation,” the official said.

The 1958 act provides unlimited powers to the security forces to shoot on sight and arrest anybody without a warrant.

Local rights leaders and tribal groups describe the act as “draconian” and want it repealed.

“Innocent people are victimised by security forces in the name of anti-insurgency operations,” former minister and general secretary of the Indigenous Nationalist Party of Tripura (INPT) Rabindra Debbarma said.

“Demand for repealing the AFSPA was one of the issues in our ongoing movement against the Left Front government,” Debbarma told journalists.

Besides Tripura, the AFSPA is also in force in Manipur, Assam, and Nagaland.