Amarinder Singh backs BSF's jurisdiction extension in Punjab; set to meet Amit Shah tomorrow

Former Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, on Wednesday, reiterated his support to the Centre's decision to enhance the jurisdiction of the Border Security Force (BSF) in Punjab, and said the purpose of the Central paramilitary force is to secure international borders and not take over the state government.

Former Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, on Wednesday, reiterated his support to the Centre's decision to enhance the jurisdiction of the Border Security Force (BSF) in Punjab, and said the purpose of the Central paramilitary force is to secure international borders and not take over the state government. "They (BSF) are here to secure our borders not take over the government. Nobody is taking over the state," said the former Chief Minister.

Captain further said that the "payloads and range of drones" coming in from Pakistan are increasing and Punjab Police need help from "specialised agencies" to deal with the situation. "First drown came 1.5 years back. They used to drop payloads only across the river. Then they started coming 7-8 km inside the border. The last information I have is that they have come 31 km into the border. Range and payloads are increasing," said Captain Amarinder Singh.

"The BSF is not going to take care of state security, they will track drones that are extending their capacity. The Punjab Police is a trained force and but they are not trained for handling drones or cross border smuggling," added Singh. Captain Amarinder Singh also shared his plan of paying a visit to the Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday to discuss various issues including farmers' protests.

"Tomorrow we are taking some people with us, around 25-30 people, and we will be meeting the Home Minister," said former Congress leader. The Centre through a notification has empowered the Border Security Force (BSF) to conduct searches, arrest suspects and make seizures up to an area of 50 km inside Indian territory from the International Border (IB) in five states--including Punjab-- along India-Pakistan and India-Bangladesh borders.

Captain while addressing the media also announced that he is forming a new political party, name and symbol of which will be shared once cleared by the Election Commission. Singh resigned last month as the chief minister and had announced that he will be quitting the Congress after months of a rift with Congress state chief Navjot Singh Sidhu.

He had resigned ahead of Congress legislature party meeting which was called amid unending factional battles in the ruling Congress in the state. Singh was replaced by Charanjit Singh Channi as the chief minister of the state. (ANI)

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