Assam Rifles Top Leadership Meets Assam's Chief Secretary & DGP To deal Cross-Border International Illegal Activities

Guwahati, August 17: Top officials of Assam Rifles led by Maj Gen Inderjit Singh Bhinder, IGAR (East), 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 Assam Rifles, civil administration and police to strengthen coordination and ensure peace, security and development in the region.

Security coordination in Assam

The Assam Rifles, India’s oldest paramilitary force, operates primarily across the entire Northeast India region, including Assam. Their key working areas in Assam include border management along the Indo-Myanmar border, counter-insurgency operations in disturbed areas, and disaster relief.

The Assam Rifles (AR) is often nicknamed "Sentinels of the North East" and "Friends of the Hill People". It is the oldest paramilitary force in India, originally raised in 1835 as Cachar Levy, a militia to protect tea gardens and the fertile plains of Assam against unruly tribes.

Force history and operations

After independence, the AR 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, Assam Rifles has been working against cross-border insurgency, drug and narcotics mafias, and illegal smuggling and trades.

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Focus on border challenges

The high-level meeting with top Assam officials indicates Assam government led by Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma’s firm stand against drugs, cross-border smuggling activities, especially from neighbouring porous Myanmar borders through North Eastern states Tripura, Mizoram, Manipur to mainland India using the corridor of Assam.