Home Ministry sanctions 2 armed battalions for state

Rachna Khaira

Tribune New Service

Jalandhar, October 21

The Union Home Ministry has approved two armed battalions for Punjab to strengthen the second line of defence in the border areas.

Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal had sought the sanctioning of five armed battalions in the state to detect and prevent intrusion in the border districts.

“The battalions with strength of 1,100 personnel each will be equipped with the latest weapons and technology to deal with any insurgency,” said DGP Suresh Arora, who was here to attend the 57th state-level Police Commemoration Day observed at the Punjab Armed Police headquarters here.

He said the Centre had agreed to bear the cost of the raising and further maintaining of these battalions that would be deployed along the international border in the state.

The DGP said the state government had taken several measures to upgrade the Police Department in the wake of terror attacks in Dinanagar and the recent one at the Pathankot airbase.

He said while the Union Government had sanctioned Rs 106 crore to upgrade the Police Department, the post of IG (Counter Intelligence) and AIG (CI) had been created in the department to improve the performance and coordination of the state police with that of the BSF and the Army. MF Farooqi, an ex-BSF top brass, had been recruited as IG (CI) by the state police recently.