Assam Rifles: Relocation
Union Home Minister has recently announced the relocation of Assam Rifles battalions to Mizoram.
- Assam Rifles is one of the six Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) that come under the MHA’s administrative control.
- It conducts counterinsurgency operations in north-eastern India and other areas where deemed necessary.
- Its operational control is with the Indian Army, with an officer of the rank of Lieutenant General commanding the force.
- The headquarters of the Director-General of Assam Rifles (DGAR) is in Shillong unlike other Central paramilitary forces, all of which have their headquarters in New Delhi.
- Assam Rifles has its origins in 1835 as a militia called the ‘Cachar Levy’ to protect British tea estates and their settlements against tribal raids.
- It later became the ‘Frontier Force’ conducting punitive expeditions across the borders of Assam.
- In 1870, the existing elements were merged into three Assam Military Police Battalions, sending over 3,000 men as part of the British Army to Europe and West Asia.
