Kokrajhar: BNSS Sec 163 Invoked to Prevent Law and Order Situation Amid Clashes

The Kokrajhar district administration in Assam on Tuesday issued prohibitory orders under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) to forbid assembly of more than four people in any public places within the district. The decision was taken in view of the likelihood of adverse law and order situations due to “simmering tension among multiple sections of the society and violent activities between two ethnic groups,” an official order from the Kokrajhar district magistrate stated.

Accordingly, the orders issued under BNSS Section 163 prohibit any form of procession, rally, demonstration, march, gherao, blockade, or sit-in protests within the Kokrajhar district. Picketing, sloganeering, display of banners, placards, or loudspeakers near any government office in the district have also been banned.

Further, carrying sticks, lathis, daos, sharp weapons, inflammable materials, explosive substances, or any object that can cause injury or damage has been outlawed in addition to the prohibition on obstruction or attempts to obstruct any government officials from carrying out their duties.

Organising melas or fairs without permission, pillion riding, using tinted-glass vehicles, using microphones outdoors without permission, carrying out flame torch (Mashaal) processions and damage, defacement or vandalism of any government property have all been strictly forbidden.

Meanwhile, government officials on official duty with mandatory official ID, executive magistrates, personnel of police, army, Central Armed Police Forces, and emergency or disaster services, senior citizens, women, and children below 12 years for routine movement and individuals with specific written permission from the district magistrate have been exempted from the prohibitions under the order.

The Kokrajhar administration cited the possibility of tensions flaring in vulnerable areas of the district, activities of miscreants and anti-social elements in disturbing the peace and leading to agitations and closures of national highways and railway lines and damage to public property as reasons to invoke Section 163 of BNSS, adding that any violation will attract punishments under Section 233 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

What Assam Police Said?

Notably, the Assam Police has said that the situation in the Karigaon area of Kokrajhar, where the violence flared, is fully under control. In a social media post, the official handle of Assam Police wrote, “We have appealed to the general public of all sections of society to maintain peace and harmony and have requested them not to be swayed by any kind of provocation or misinformation spread by anti-national forces.”

“Those whom the anti-national forces are attempting to disrupt peace and harmony and spread terror among the public have already been identified, and strict legal action will be taken against them,” the post added.

কোকৰাঝাৰৰ কাৰিগাঁও অঞ্চলৰ পৰিস্থিতি বৰ্তমান সম্পূৰ্ণ নিয়ন্ত্ৰণাধীন।

আমি সমাজৰ সকলো শ্ৰেণীৰ জনসাধাৰণক শান্তি- সম্প্ৰীতি অটুট ৰাখিবলৈ আহ্বান জনাইছোঁ আৰু দেশবিৰোধী শক্তিৰ দ্বাৰা প্ৰচাৰিত কোনোধৰণৰ উৰাবাতৰি বা ভুল তথ্যত ভোল নাযাবলৈ অনুৰোধ জনাইছোঁ।

যিসমূহ দেশবিৰোধী শক্তিয়ে শান্তি…

— Assam Police (@assampolice) January 20, 2026

Also Read: Internet Services Suspended in Kokrajhar as Violence Escalates