New Delhi

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government on Friday (Aug 2) sacked the director general of India's Border Security Force (BSF) and his deputy "with immediate effect", and sent the duo to their state cadres. 

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DG Nitin Agrawal, a 1989-batch Kerala cadre officer, had taken charge of the BSF in June last year. Meanwhile, Deputy Special DG (West) YB Khurania, from the 1990 batch of the Odisha cadre, was leading the operations of the force along the Line of Control (LoC), the de-facto border between India and Pakistan.

Why the duo has been sacked?

The government order didn't state why the two officers were removed from their posts but sources quoted by NDTV cited constant infiltration from the international border as one of the major factors.

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Some reports hinted that the BSF chief didn't cooperate with the government over critical matters.

"Lack of command and control within the force and lack of coordination with other sister agencies led to his repatriation," a senior source was quoted as saying by NDTV.

Also read: Indian government orders deployment of 2000 BSF personnel to hunt Pakistani terrorists in J&K

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"Premature repatriation to the cadre of two very senior officers is definitely a strong message from the government to the forces to get their act together," the officer said.

"In light of heightened actions in south of Pir Panjal, of which the BSF holds a chunk of the International Boundary, the buck stops with the DG and Special DG BSF," the officer added.

Why is it significant?

The move comes after a series of terror attacks took place in India's Jammu region, targeting both civilians and military personnel.

It's the first time that the government has taken direct action against top officers in terror-related cases.

Also read: India: Border Security Force deploys female soldiers at Line of Control for first time

The BSF is responsible for guarding India's border with Pakistan in the West and Bangladesh in the East.

(With inputs from agencies)