Guwahati, Aug 17: Top officials of the Assam Rifles, led by Maj Gen Inderjit Singh Bhinder, IGAR (East), and accompanied by Brig Nishant Chandel, Comd 21 Sector, Assam Rifles, called on Dr Ravi Kota, IAS, Chief Secretary, Assam, and Harmeet Singh, IPS, DGP, Assam. The meetings focused on law and order, operational coordination, security matters and areas of mutual interest.
The interactions reaffirmed the commitment of the Assam Rifles, civil administration and police to strengthening coordination and ensuring peace, security and development in the region.
The Assam Rifles, India’s oldest paramilitary force, operates primarily across the Northeast, including Assam. Its key areas of operation in Assam include border management along the Indo-Myanmar border, counter-insurgency operations in disturbed areas and disaster relief.
The Assam Rifles is often nicknamed the “Sentinels of the North East” and “Friends of the Hill People”. It is the oldest paramilitary force in India and was originally raised in 1835 as the Cachar Levy, a militia to protect tea gardens and the fertile plains of Assam against unruly tribes.
After Independence, the Assam Rifles functioned under the Ministry of External Affairs. Its operational control was transferred to the Indian Army after the Sino-Indian War of 1962.
At present, the Assam Rifles has been working against cross-border insurgency, drug and narcotics mafias, and illegal smuggling and trade.
The high-level meeting with top Assam officials indicates that the Assam Government, led by Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma, stands firmly against drugs and cross-border smuggling activities, especially from neighbouring porous Myanmar borders through the northeastern states of Tripura, Mizoram and Manipur to mainland India using Assam as a corridor.
