Assam has seen rapid multiplication in the issue of Arms license by the police under the rule of Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal-led coalition government in Assam since 2016. This has led to questions being raised on the law and order situation of the northeastern state.
As per data available from the home department, between 1st January 2018 to 15th September 2020, 62 people have been issued arms licenses in Assam. This holds significance as the development has happened within just 3 years.
In fact even decades ago when Assam was hit by insurgency and the ULFA, NDFB were not under control, there have not been records of the issue of arms license in such a huge number.
If we compare the data to Bihar, this is immense as during the same time period 68 people were issued arms licenses in the state which has the existence of maoists and has been earlier identified as a state of unrest.
According to data by the Union Home Ministry, during the same time frame, 38 in Jharkhand, 36 in Karnataka, 33 in Kerala, 27 in Odisha, 56 in Telangana have been issued with arms license.
