Govt shifts over 2,000 BSF personnel from Odisha to terror-hit Jammu

Jammu: Security officials conduct a search operation following reports of suspicious movement of three persons on the intervening night of Thursday and Friday in Gurha Pattan area of Kanachak sector of Jammu district on July 12, 2024. (Photo: PTI) | An image showing

3 minutes of reading Last updated: July 27, 2024 | 1:29 PM IST

The government has ordered withdrawal of two BSF battalions, comprising over 2,000 troops, from Odisha to tighten security in the terror-hit Jammu region along the India-Pakistan border, official sources said on Saturday.

The decision to “immediately” shift two units of the anti-Naxalite operations network to Jammu has been taken in the wake of the recent spate of terror attacks in the region, sources told news agency PTI.

Security officials said two Border Security Force (BSF) teams were to be deployed as a “second line” of defence behind the first echelon of units deployed along the international border in Jammu district to prevent infiltration of terrorists from across the border, barring attacks by these elements inland.

Troops of these two units are expected to be stationed in Samba and near the Jammu-Punjab border, sources said.

“The two recent meetings, one in Delhi and one in Jammu, between top security commanders have necessitated the need to enhance BSF deployment in Jammu,” said a senior officer, requesting anonymity.

“There was a proposal to shift two BSF battalions from Odisha to Chhattisgarh to intensify anti-Naxalite operations there, but in view of the current situation, these units have now been sent to Jammu,” the officer added.

The BSF guards a stretch of the international border stretching over 2,289 kilometres that runs along the states of Jammu, Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat on the western tip of India.

The Jammu region covers 485 kilometres of this border, interspersed with dense forests and mountainous terrain. About a dozen BSF battalions are deployed along the international border region in Jammu.

Security in Jammu district has come under the spotlight following a series of terror attacks in Rajouri, Poonch, Reasi, Udhampur, Kathua and Doda districts this year that left 22 people dead, including 11 security personnel and a member of the village defence force.

Last month, five terrorists were killed in two clashes in Kathua and Doda districts.

One BSF battalion was withdrawn from Malkangiri district and another from Koraput district in Orissa on the orders of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), sources said.

Before the withdrawal of the two units, each district had four battalions deployed for anti-Naxalite operations.

Officials said a decision on sending reinforcements to the two battalions would be made later.

Deployment of BSF troops in ‘second line and depth’ areas along Jammu and other parts of the international border was a long-proposed plan after armed forces officers and experts pointed out that such support would help curb infiltration and terrorist activities in the hinterland.

The Jammu area is prone to cross-border tunnel attacks and the dense forests and mountainous terrain make it an ideal place to carry out terrorist attacks on civilians and security forces.

The infrastructure for deploying the force on the “second line” will have to be created in the next few months and years, a senior officer in Jammu and Kashmir said, and by then two new units will be manning the international border in Jammu.

(Only the headline and image of the report may have been edited by the Business Standard team; the rest of the content is automatically generated from a syndicated feed.)

First published: July 27, 2024 | 1:29 PM IST