Assam Rifles

June 21, 2023

The Assam Rifles recently moved additional troops to secure a bridge on a national highway in south Manipur.

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.