<p>Guwahati: Resuming its drive against child marriage, police in Assam arrested 431 persons in the past 24-hours and registered 345 cases.</p><p>The arrests were made as part of the BJP-led government's mission to end the menace of child marriage by 2026, when the state will go for Assembly elections.</p><p>Informing this on social media on Sunday, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the drive against child marriage would continue. "We will continue to take bold steps to end this social evil," Sarma posted on X on Sunday.</p>.Narcotics worth Rs 20 crore seized in Assam's Cachar.<p>The district-wise data shared by the state police said Dhubri, Barpeta and South Salmara witnessed maximum arrests in the third phase of the drive launched on Saturday night. Out of the 431 arrests, 68 were arrested from Dhubri followed by Barpeta (52) and South Salmara (42). Dhubri, Barpeta and South Salmara are Muslim-majority districts.</p>.<p>The state government said although child marriage was a serious problem across the state, it was seevre among the Bengali-speaking Muslims. It said maternal mortality and infant mortality rates were more in Muslim majority districts, mainly due to prevalance of rampant child marriage. The drive was encouraged by a similar mission to end child marriage in Karnataka. </p><p>The state government in February last year launched the drive and arrested 3,425 persons in the first phase. In the second phase in October, a total of 913 persons were arrested. A total of 4,769 cases have been registered in the three phases so far, police said on Sunday.</p>
<p>Guwahati: Resuming its drive against child marriage, police in Assam arrested 431 persons in the past 24-hours and registered 345 cases.</p><p>The arrests were made as part of the BJP-led government's mission to end the menace of child marriage by 2026, when the state will go for Assembly elections.</p><p>Informing this on social media on Sunday, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the drive against child marriage would continue. "We will continue to take bold steps to end this social evil," Sarma posted on X on Sunday.</p>.Narcotics worth Rs 20 crore seized in Assam's Cachar.<p>The district-wise data shared by the state police said Dhubri, Barpeta and South Salmara witnessed maximum arrests in the third phase of the drive launched on Saturday night. Out of the 431 arrests, 68 were arrested from Dhubri followed by Barpeta (52) and South Salmara (42). Dhubri, Barpeta and South Salmara are Muslim-majority districts.</p>.<p>The state government said although child marriage was a serious problem across the state, it was seevre among the Bengali-speaking Muslims. It said maternal mortality and infant mortality rates were more in Muslim majority districts, mainly due to prevalance of rampant child marriage. The drive was encouraged by a similar mission to end child marriage in Karnataka. </p><p>The state government in February last year launched the drive and arrested 3,425 persons in the first phase. In the second phase in October, a total of 913 persons were arrested. A total of 4,769 cases have been registered in the three phases so far, police said on Sunday.</p>