Chandigarh, May 14: BSF jawan Purnam Kumar, who was handed over by Pakistan Rangers at the Attari-Wagah border on Tuesday, will now go through a standard post-custody procedure involving medical examination, counselling, and formal debriefing by Indian authorities.
Kumar, a member of the 24th Battalion of the Border Security Force and a native of Rishra in West Bengal’s Hooghly district, was apprehended by Pakistan Rangers on April 23 after inadvertently crossing the international border.
According to official sources, the jawan will undergo a complete medical evaluation as the first step in the standard repatriation protocol. This will be followed by psychological counselling and a series of debriefing sessions.
“Debriefing is a structured military process designed to gather detailed information from individuals who have undergone specific events, such as captivity,” an official explained.
During these sessions, BSF officers will question Kumar about his 21-day detention and his experience in Pakistani custody.
Officials also confirmed that Kumar will not be reinstated into active duty at this stage. He will be a key part of a formal inquiry initiated by the BSF Punjab frontier to reconstruct the events that led to his apprehension and assess any procedural lapses.
The case echoes that of Indian Air Force Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, who was captured and later released by Pakistan in 2019 after his aircraft was downed during a dogfight.
He underwent a similar debriefing and psychological assessment upon return, during which he detailed his treatment in custody, including instances of physical abuse and sleep deprivation.
In Kumar’s case, his detention took place just a day after the terrorist attack in Pahalgam that killed 26 people and led to the launch of India’s retaliatory Operation Sindoor.
During his captivity, Kumar’s wife, Rajani, actively pursued his release through media appeals and outreach to BSF officials.
“She had urged the government to return her ‘sindoor’—a symbolic reference to her husband’s safe return,” said a BSF officer.
Kumar’s repatriation was secured following multiple flag meetings between Indian and Pakistani border forces, alongside what officials described as “other communication channels” used to maintain diplomatic pressure.
