BSF probing whether Abdul Rasheed’s leaks facilitated recent attacks

NEW DELHI: The arrest of Border Security Force (BSF) head constable Abdul Rasheed for passing on information to Pakistani operatives has exposed the chinks in the country's security and intelligence agencies. The BSF is now trying to assess whether recent infiltration by terrorists and attacks like those in Udhampur and Gurdaspur a few months ago were the result of information provided by Rasheed and others like him in the forces.

The BSF is likely to conduct a thorough verification and assessment of its intelligence wings in sensitive regions like Rajouri, Jammu, Rajasthan and West Bengal. "It's a serious matter. We will make sure something like this never happens again. Though our men are trained in a way that they are nationalists but sometimes, some boys may slip," BSF director general D K Pathak told TOI.

He added that an internal enquiry was being conducted as well.

The BSF and other agencies are investigating whether information leaked by Rasheed about troop positions led to the recent deadly attacks. On August 5, four terrorists entered from Kashmir and two of them attacked a BSF convoy, killing two men and injuring several others.

On July 27, Punjab witnessed a terror attack after eight years when three terrorists entered through Gurdaspur and stormed a police station, killing four policemen, including a superintendent of police, and three civilians.

"This (Rasheed's arrest) makes us think how these terrorists made clean entries to our side," an Intelligence Bureau official said.

Pathak, in his annual press conference two days ago, had said, "There are daring and desperate attempts from Pakistan to infiltrate terrorists into India and ceasefire violations have also increased."

Two junior officers of BSF were caught last year and a deputy commandant about 15 years ago for working in cahoots with narcotics smugglers.

"In the last two-three decades, this is the first time we have seen such a case where a BSF officer has been found spying for Pakistan," a BSF officer said.

Junior officers in BSF are hired after just a police verification while those in officer ranks are verified by the revenue department and possibly the IB as well.

BSF personnel guard the 2,289 km India-Pakistan border and the 4,096 km India-Bangladesh frontier.