AFSPA extended in Manipur, Nagaland, and Arunachal Pradesh for six months
Guwahati: The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Friday, September 26, 2025, extended the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) in parts of Manipur, Nagaland, and Arunachal Pradesh for another six months.
In Manipur, affected by ethnic violence since May 2023, AFSPA has been extended across the entire state except for 13 police station jurisdictions in five valley districts.
The excluded areas include Imphal, Lamphel, City, Singjamei, Patsoi, Wangoi, Porompat, Heingang, Irilbung, Thoubal, Bishnupur, Nambol, and Kakching. The notification stated that the law will remain in effect from October 1, 2025, unless withdrawn earlier.
Previously, on November 14, 2024, AFSPA was reimposed in six police station limits across five districts of Manipur following the ethnic violence that erupted on May 3, 2023. President’s Rule has been in force in the state since February 13, 2023.
AFSPA had been withdrawn from all valley police stations between April 1, 2022, and April 1, 2023, amid an improved security situation. The hill districts of Manipur have remained under the law for over three decades, with the last extension issued on September 26, 2024.
In Nagaland, AFSPA has been extended for six months in nine districts, including Dimapur, Niuland, Chumoukedima, Mon, Kiphire, Noklak, Phek, Peren, and Meluri, along with 21 police station limits across five other districts: Kohima, Mokokchung, Longleng, Wokha, and Zunheboto.
In Arunachal Pradesh, the districts of Tirap, Changlang, and Longding, along with areas under the Namsai, Mahadevpur, and Chowkham police stations in Namsai district bordering Assam, have been declared as “disturbed areas” for six more months.
The AFSPA, enacted in 1958, empowers the Army and Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) in “disturbed areas” to use force, arrest without a warrant, search premises, and provides protection from prosecution without Central government sanction. The Act has been in effect in Manipur since 1981. Manipur, a former Union Territory, achieved statehood in 1972.