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Centre removes BSF chief, top officers of paramilitary forces in J-K

August 02, 2024 22:57 IST

The Centre on Friday removed the chief of the Border Security Force and another top officer of the paramilitary force which guards the sensitive India-Pakistan border, including the Jammu region where a spate of terror attacks have claimed 22 lives in recent past.

IMAGE: BSF chief Nitin Agrawal (second from left) along with BSF Western Command special director general YB Khurania (left), BSF Jammu frontier inspector general DK Boora arrive for a two-day visit to assess the security situation along the International Border, in Jammu, July 21, 2024. Photograph: ANI Photo

Border Security Force director general Nitin Agrawal and his deputy special DG (West) YB Khurania were sent back to their respective state cadres with immediate effect, according to a government order.

The repatriation orders for the two Indian Police Service officers come in the backdrop of a spate of terror incidents in the Jammu region, along the India-Pakistan border.

At least 22 people, including 11 security personnel and a village defence guard member, have been killed this year in such incidents in Rajouri, Poonch, Reasi, Udhampur, Kathua and Doda districts.

The BSF, which is entrusted to guard this front, has denied any instances of infiltration.

Five terrorists were also killed in two encounters in Kathua and Doda districts last month.

Separate orders issued by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet conveyed they were being "prematurely" repatriated with "immediate effect."

Agrawal is a 1989-batch Kerala cadre IPS officer, while Khurania belongs to the 1990-batch of the Odisha cadre.

Khurania is expected to be made the head of the police force or the director general of police in Odisha where the new BJP government has just taken charge.

Agrawal had taken charge as the Border Security Force chief in June last year and he was scheduled to retire in July, 2026.

Khurania, as the special DG (West), was heading the formation of the force along the Pakistan border that runs for about 2,289 kms along Jammu, Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat in India's western flank.

Interspersed with dense forests and mountainous terrain, the Jammu region accounts for 485 kms of this border.

The about 2.65-lakh personnel strong BSF guards Indian borders with Pakistan in the west and Bangladesh in the east.

In a separate order, the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet also appointed 1989-batch Odisha cadre IPS officer Amrit Mohan Prasad as a SDG in the Central Reserve Police Force.