Gurdaspur Congress MP Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa Monday wrote a letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah seeking a Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) inquiry into the brutal killing of two Punjab Police personnel at a border checkpost in his constituency near the India-Pakistan border on the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday.
“The incident has gravely shaken public confidence in the capacity of our security apparatus to safeguard frontline personnel deployed on sensitive duties,” said Randhawa in his letter.
The MP said credible inputs available with him indicate that the check-post where Assistant Sub-Inspector Gurnam Singh and Home Guard Ashok Kumar were found dead was intended to function as a joint naka of the Border Security Force (BSF) and the Punjab Police, forming part of the second line of defence along the international border.
“It has been represented that the BSF contingent detailed for the joint naka did not report for duty on the relevant night. I am further given to understand that, even the following morning, neither the outgoing BSF party nor the relieving Punjab Police party reached the post at the scheduled time, and the bodies were discovered only after local residents noticed the situation and raised the alarm,” he said.
Randhawa said if these facts are borne out by investigation, they suggest not merely a distressing lapse in duty of care towards our personnel, but a deeper systemic failure of supervision, coordination and real-time monitoring between the BSF and the Punjab Police in a sector universally acknowledged to be highly sensitive.
“The gravity of the situation is compounded by reports that Pakistan-based or Pakistan-oriented extremist organisations and their sympathisers are attempting to exploit the incident for propaganda, issuing threats to Indian military, paramilitary and police personnel that they will “meet the same fate” if they do not abandon their posts. Such messaging aligns with recent patterns of cross-border terror propaganda and revivalist Khalistani narratives targeting security installations in and around Gurdaspur and other border districts,” he said.
Terror angle
The Gurdaspur MP said the incident must therefore be treated as a terrorist attack unless and until a professional investigation conclusively determines otherwise, rather than being viewed as an isolated law-and-order occurrence.
“Prima facie, the episode reflects a threefold failure: 1. An intelligence failure, in that the possibility of an attack on a thinly manned border check-post in a known vulnerable sector appears not to have been adequately anticipated or acted upon. 2. An operational failure on the part of both the BSF and the Punjab Police, given the apparent absence of joint deployment and timely supervision at a post forming part of the wider border defence grid. 3. A leadership and coordination deficit, particularly disquieting at a time when Punjab is functioning with an officiating Director General of Police and there is a discernible uptick in gangsterism, narco-terror linkages and targeted attacks on police infrastructure in and around Gurdaspur,” the MP Amit Shah.
Randhawa requested the Home Minister to convene, at the earliest, a special high-level meeting under his chairmanship in New Delhi, to be attended by the Union Home Secretary; the Director General, BSF, the Director, Intelligence Bureau, senior officers of the NIA as required and the Chief Secretary and Director General of Police (including the officiating DGP) of Punjab.
He has also demanded an immediate, time-bound and inquiry into whether the post in question was formally notified and rostered as a joint naka between the BSF and the Punjab Police, the precise chain of responsibility for detailing, supervising and relieving the respective parties on the relevant night and the following morning, the reasons for the apparent failure of both paramilitary and state police relieving parties to report on time and the possible involvement of cross-border handlers, local over-ground networks and gangster-terror syndicates active in the border belt.
‘Rectify gaps in border-area deployment protocols’
He has sought the intervention of the Home Minister to issue appropriate directions to rectify all identified gaps in border-area deployment protocols, including mandatory joint briefings, electronic attendance and real-time location monitoring of naka parties, and strict accountability for any dereliction of duty, strengthen intelligence fusion between Central agencies, the BSF and the Punjab Police, particularly in Gurdaspur and other frontline districts and ensure that the families of the deceased are treated with the utmost dignity, provided full ex gratia relief and honours, and kept fully informed of the progress of the investigation.
“I understand that you are expected to visit Punjab shortly, including Moga, to address what is essentially a political gathering. While such engagements are part of democratic life, I would respectfully urge that, in view of the gravity of the present situation, you consider first visiting the bereaved families in the affected district to personally convey the nation’s solidarity with them,” Randhawa wrote.
“Such a gesture would send a powerful message of reassurance to our security personnel and the border population alike. I would further request that you hold a regional-level security review meeting in the district itself, with local commanders of the BSF, senior Punjab Police officers and district civil authorities, so as to convey a clear sense of urgency and accountability at the operational level,” added Randhawa.
The MP assured the Home Minister that setting aside party considerations, he stands ready to cooperate fully with the Union Government and all relevant agencies in any serious and sustained effort to ensure that Punjab does not relapse into the dark days of terrorism, which the state has painstakingly overcome.
The police cordon off the spot where the two bodies were found at the checkpoint in the Gurdaspur district of Punjab (Express photo). 
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