New Delhi/ Jammu, August 02: In a significant development, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has executed a major reshuffle within the Border Security Force (BSF), repatriating DG BSF Nitin Agarwal and Special DG BSF Western Command Y.B. Khurania to their parent cadres amid reports of large-scale infiltration from Pakistan.
Two separate notifications released by the personnel and training department on Friday confirmed that the Cabinet Appointments Committee approved the home affairs ministry’s proposal for the immediate repatriation of both senior officers.
Nitin Agarwal, a 1989-batch IPS officer from the Kerala cadre, was appointed as the BSF chief last June with a tenure extending until July 31, 2026, or until further orders. However, his term has now been cut short.
Y.B. Khurania, an Odisha cadre officer, was inducted into the BSF in September 2018 as an Inspector General-rank officer. He was promoted to an Additional Director General-rank officer in 2021 and took charge of the Western Command last September. The Western Command is responsible for securing the international border with Pakistan in the Jammu division.
Since 2021, security forces, including personnel from the Indian Armed Forces (IAF), the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), the BSF, and the Jammu and Kashmir Police, have sustained losses of more than 50 personnel in the Jammu region.
The premature repatriation of these top BSF officers highlights the escalating security concerns and the pressing need for strengthened leadership to address the increasing militant infiltrations and targeted attacks on security forces in the area.
