India, Feb. 22 -- In a major push towards strengthening internal security and reclaiming State land from illegal occupation, Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah, on Saturday, laid the foundation stone for the new headquarters of the 10th Assam Police Battalion at Kachutoli in Sonapur.

The project, estimated to cost over Rs 260 crore, will be developed across 174 bighas of land recently liberated from encroachers. The ceremony was held in the presence of Assam Governor Lakshman Prasad Acharya and Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.

The site is part of a larger 708-bigha plot at Kachutoli that falls under the protected Tribal Belt and Block category. Until recently, the land had been under the control of illegal groups before be...