Deswal appointed new ITBP DG

IPS officer Surjeet Singh Deswal on Wednesday took over as the new Director General (DG) of border guarding force Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), tasked primarily with manning India's frontier with China.

The 1984-batch Indian Police Service officer of Haryana cadre took over from R K Pachnanda.

An order issued by the Personnel Ministry said the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved Deswal's appointment as the DG, ITBP for a period up to his superannuation on August 31, 2021.

Deswal was serving as the DG of another border guarding force Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), a post he was appointed to only a month ago.

Another order issued Wednesday said he will continue to hold the SSB charge in an "additional" capacity.

The around 90,000-personnel strong force, raised in the aftermath of the 1962 Chinese aggression, works under the command of the Union Home Ministry.

Apart from its primary task of guarding the 3,488-km Sino-India border, where ITBP troops are deployed at freezing heights of up to 18,700 feet, the paramilitary force is tasked with rendering a variety of duties in the internal security domain, including undertaking anti-Naxal operations in Chhattisgarh.