Union Home Minister Amit Shah has said that Assam Police has faced the highest challenges of all the State police forces in the country. “Assam has been affected by communal riots at the time of partition, problem of refugees, problem of infiltration going on for several decades, the liberation war of Bangladesh in 1971, violence by many insurgent groups and drug smuggling, but the Assam Police has stood up facing and fighting against them,” Shah said while addressing the passing out parade (PoP) of 2,551 commandos who will join five newly formed battalions.
Mr. Shah also paid tributes to about 900 Assam Police personnel who have made the supreme sacrifice at an event held at Sarusajai Sports Complex in Guwahati which was also attended by Chief Minister Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma.
In his address, Mr. Shah said that these commandos will strengthen the law and order and security scenario in Assam. Shah said that the five new commando battalions have been trained through the Army and expressed confidence that these determined jawans will face every challenge that Assam faces.
“Assam witnessed a long period of unrest under the earlier Governments but today it is witnessing a new era of development and peace. There has been a huge change in the law-and-order situation in Assam in the last five years. Peace agreements have been signed with most armed groups, youth have joined the mainstream and the scope of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act has also been significantly reduced. Strict vigil is being maintained in the border districts. Good coordination has been established between the Central paramilitary forces and the police. Work has also been done to build an impenetrable wall on the border to stop smuggling.”
He said that the region is becoming drugs free under the Modi Government. “From May 2021 till date, Assam Police has arrested over 13,500 drug smugglers. More than 8,100 cases have been registered under the NDPS Act and huge quantities of narcotics have been seized.
Speaking on the occasion, Chief Minister Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma expressed his gratitude to the Union Minister for gracing the PoP.
Stating that the State government decided to form five new commando battalions with the aim of making the State police force deal more efficiently with insurgency-related incidents, law and order maintenance, among others, Dr. Sarma expressed confidence that the addition of these commandos will add to the strength of Assam Police and aid in its transformation into a force fully capable of dealing efficiently with contemporary challenges requiring police intervention. “The soldiers of these commando battalions shall also work as second line of security along the areas of the State bordering neighbouring countries,” he said.
He said that these commandos have been recruited through a clean and transparent process, which betrays the current State regime’s commitment to free and fair recruitment.
Referring to the call of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to create “smart police forces”, the Assam Chief Minister spoke about measures such as the upcoming National Forensic Science University near Guwahati, training of State police officials in forensic data collection, among others.
