Guwahati: The tribal insurgency in Assam would end in 2022, said Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday.
757 weapons, 5983 different types of ammunition, 131 grenades, 26 IEDs, and 52 kg of explosives were found during the year 2022, and the most of them were found on the rebels from the NDFB, NLFT, Karbi, Dimasa, and Adivasi tribes.
CM Sarma told reporters on the first day of 2023 that the majority of the recovered arms in 2022 were freely placed.
“We recovered the highest number of arms in Assam history. Recovering 757 numbers arms in just one year is a signal of the end of the tribal insurgency in Assam,” he said.
Since the 1980s, there has been carnage in Assam.
In 2022, the government negotiated a number of peace treaties with various tribal insurgent organisations.
Although only ULFA (I) is now underground, their activity has significantly decreased over time.
Sarma repeatedly urged ULFA (I) leader Paresh Baruah to integrate into society and support peace initiatives put forth by the government, stressing the importance of finding a peaceful solution to all unresolved concerns after taking office as CM in 2021.
Notably, the Center reduced disturbed areas under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) from a significant portion of Assam in 2022, marking a significant stride forward after decades.
The government claimed that the move was done in response to a recent analysis of the law, order, and security situation in Assam, which shows that things have much improved in several districts and that just a small portion of the state still has extremist groups present.
Since 1990, the entire state of Assam has been subject to the AFSPA which gives security personnel the authority to conduct operations anywhere and make arrests without first obtaining a warrant.