Centre removes BSF chief, Deputy with immediate effect, sends them back to parent cadres

New Delhi: The Central government on Friday removed Border Security Force Director General (DG) Nitin Agrawal and his deputy Special DG (West) Y B Khurania and repatriated them to ther parent carders Kerala and Odisha respectively. The repatriation orders for the two Indian Police Service (IPS) 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 (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.

Separate orders issued by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) 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 (DGP) 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 (CRPF).