Assam Rifles

About Assam Rifles:

• The Assam Rifles, one of the central armed police forces, is the leading counter-insurgency force in the Northeast. 
• Background: 
  • It is the oldest paramilitary force in India.
  • The unit can trace its lineage back to a paramilitary police force that was formed under the British in 1835 called Cachar Levy.
  • Since then the Assam Rifles have undergone a number of name changes—the Assam Frontier Police (1883), the Assam Military Police (1891) and Eastern Bengal and Assam Military Police (1913), before finally becoming the Assam Rifles in 1917.
• Role: It is tasked with the maintenance of law and order in the North East along with the Indian Army and also guards the Indo-Myanmar border in the region.
• It is also known as ‘Sentinels of the Northeast’.
• HQ: Shillong, Meghalaya.
• Motto: Friends of the Hill People. 
• Control: 
  • It is the only paramilitary force with a dual control structure.
  • While the administrative control of the force is with the Ministry of Home Affairs, its operational control is with the Indian Army, which is under the Ministry of Defence.

 

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Q1) Which are the central armed police forces?

The Armed Police Organisations, referred to as Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs), such as the Assam Rifles (AR), Border Security Force (BSF), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), National Security Guard (NSG) and Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), function under the administrative control of Ministry of Home Affairs.

Source: Assam Rifles secures threatened supply route to Manipur’s hill districts