The Centre has dispatched two Rapid Action Force (RAF) companies of the CRPF to Arunachal Pradesh following violence in Pasighat during protests against the proposed 11,200-MW Siang Upper Multipurpose Project, officials said on Sunday.
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) directed on Saturday that the RAF companies comprising about 250 personnel will be airlifted from Navi Mumbai on board an IAF transport aircraft. The units will reach Pasighat and get deployed by Sunday, the officials told PTI.
RAF is a special blue-uniform donning anti-riot unit of the CRPF.
Multiple units of the CRPF are already deployed in the violence-affected areas. Arunachal Pradesh has a permanent deployment of about 2-3 CRPF battalions.
Officials said CRPF personnel effectively handled the protests since Friday and ensured the violence did not escalate. They are among the several police and central forces personnel who have been injured, they added.
A mob torched an NHPC office and a police station and vandalised the residences of three political leaders, including that of the state BJP chief, in East Siang district on Friday night, according to Arunachal Pradesh Police officials.
Chief Minister Pema Khandu has said the right to peaceful protest was an essential part of democracy, but it was important that demonstrations remained within the bounds of the law and did not result in damage to property or disruption of public order.
He said the incidents in Pasighat were regrettable and called upon all sections of society to maintain peace.
According to a statement issued by the Chief Minister's Office (CMO), Khandu said a 12-hour bandh in Siang, Upper Siang and East Siang districts over the power project remained largely peaceful on Friday. But violence erupted in Pasighat after the bandh ended and continued till 3.30 am on Saturday.