GUWAHATI, Dec 1 - With the date for publication of the draft of the updated National Register of Citizens (NRC) drawing closer, the Assam Police has started the process of identifying potential trouble mongers. The State Government is likely to request the Centre to send more forces to deal with any possible law-and-order problem following the publication of the draft.
Highly-placed police sources said that all the district police forces have been directed to make a thorough assessment of the situation and based on it, additional forces would be sought from the Centre. The district police forces have also been directed to identify police station area wise potential trouble makers so that proper surveillance on their movements and activities can be maintained.
Sources admitted that certain organisations and individuals are still trying to create confusion in the minds of the people about the NRC despite the efforts made by the office of the State Coordinator of the NRC and the Government to create awareness among all sections of people and such persons would be kept under strict surveillance. Action will be taken against rumour mongers as per the provisions of the law to ensure that no law and order problem erupts after the publication of the draft NRC.
Sources said that with the Supreme Court today allowing publication of the draft of the NRC in two parts, the problems of the law-enforcing agencies would be eased out a bit and �now we will have more time in our hands to assess the situation.� The situation can be assessed after the publication of the first part of the draft NRC and better preparations can be made for the publication of the second draft, the sources pointed out.
Meanwhile, the final phase of verification of the documents submitted by the applicants will start tomorrow and adequate security measures have been taken to ensure security of the personnel engaged in the job as it would require house-to-house verification in some cases. The Centre has already provided 50 additional companies of paramilitary forces and they will be deployed only for ensuing a trouble-free verification process. The State Government will seek more forces after assessment of the overall situation before the publication of the draft NRC. �The Centre has already assured the State Government that adequate forces would be provided and there should not be any major trouble even after publication of the draft NRC,� the sources added.
