Assam Police identifies sensitive areas ahead of NRC release

The Assam Police has identified sensitive areas in the state ahead of the publication of the first draft of National Register of Citizens (NRC) and said the Army might be called in if needed.
After attending a high-level security meeting of the Unified Command, Director General Mukesh Sahay said some areas of a few NRC Sewa Kendras have been found to be sensitive and police are making efforts to ensure peace in those regions.
"For keeping the situation under control, additional 85 companies of central security forces have arrived in the state in two batches," he said.
If necessary, the Army will also be engaged to avoid any untoward incident on December 31 midnight when the NRC draft is released, Sahay said after reviewing the security situation in the state.

The Assam Police is also keeping a close watch on social media platforms to check for inflammatory posts and hate comments which could vitiate law and order, he said.
Asked about ULFA(I) activities in the state, the DGP admitted that the organisation is still active some areas.

He appealed to ULFA(I) chief Paresh Barua to return to the mainstream and said that there will be zero tolerance against terror activities.
Meanwhile, ruling coalition member Asom Gana Parishad today said it will oppose any move to grant citizenship to Hindu Bangladeshis and "do all" to defeat the proposed Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 in Parliament.

A massive exercise to update the NRC is being carried out in Assam in line with a directive of the Supreme Court, issued in 2005.
The exercise, however, started as late as 2015 under the Congress regime. It got a major push only after the BJP came to power with illegal immigration from Bangladesh as a poll plank.
The apex court had ordered that the first draft of the NRC be published by December 31.