1993 batch IPS Officer of Madhya Pradesh cadre, Sonali Mishra will be the next chief of Border Security Force’s (BSF) Punjab frontier headquartered in Jalandhar, Punjab. She is first women commander to hold such post along the India-Pakistan border in Punjab. The BSF is one of the major five Central Armed Police Forces of Union of India under the administrative control of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). It was raised in 1965 after the India-Pakistan war.
Senior IPS officer Mishra will replace IPS officer Mahipal Yadav as the new Inspector General (IG) of the Punjab frontier. If sources are to be believed, Punjab cadre IPS and current IG of the Punjab frontier Yadav is set to take over the post that was headed by Sonali Mishra in Delhi till now.
A Seasoned officer Mishra is currently posted at the BSF intelligence wing. It is also known as the ‘G branch’. She has earlier headed a BSF unit in the Kashmir Valley as IG. Punjab shares a 553-km border with Pakistan and it is not hidden from anyone that India-Pakistan border is very prone to infiltration and narcotics. But Punjab border is also notorious for drug and arms smuggling.
BSF is widely projected as India’s first line of defense against infiltration, smuggling and military assault. It is deployed on Indo-Pakistan International Border, Indo-Bangladesh International Border, Line of Control (LoC) along with Indian Army and in Anti-Naxal Operations. The 2.65-lakh force guards a total of 6,300 kms of India’s land border with Pakistan and Bangladesh.
