In an unprecedented move, the Centre on Friday removed Border Security Force (BSF) chief and his deputy "with immediate effect", and sent them back to their state cadres. The repatriation orders for the two Indian Police Service (IPS) officers -- BSF Director General (DG) Nitin Agrawal and his deputy Special DG (West) YB Khurania--come in the backdrop of a spate of terror incidents in the Jammu region, along the India-Pakistan border.
Separate orders issued by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) conveyed that both top officers of the force --which guards the sensitive India-Pakistan border, including the Jammu region -- were being prematurely repatriated with immediate effect.
Agrawal, a 1989-batch Kerala cadre IPS officer, had taken charge as the Border Security Force chief in June last year and he was scheduled to retire in July 2026.
Khurania, the 1990 batch of the Odisha cadre, is expected to be made the head of the police force or the director general of police (DGP) in Odisha where the new BJP government has just taken charge. As the special DG (West), he was heading the formation of the force along the Pakistan border that runs for about 2,289 km along Jammu, Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat in India's western flank.
Recent Terror Attacks In J&K
At least 22 people, including 11 security personnel and a village defence guard (VDG) 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.
Interspersed with dense forests and mountainous terrain, the Jammu region accounts for 485 kms of this border. About 2.65-lakh BSF personnel guard Indian borders with Pakistan in the west and Bangladesh in the east.