In a significant turn of events, senior IPS officer Gurpreet Singh Bhullar has returned to Punjab’s strategically sensitive border belt, weeks after being abruptly shifted from the post of Commissioner of Police, Amritsar.Bhullar has been posted as Inspector General of Police, Border Range, bringing him back into a key operational assignment covering some of Punjab’s most sensitive border districts.Harmanbir Singh Gill, who was given the additional charge of police commissioner following the transfer of Bhullar, has been given the permanent charge as Police Commissioner.His return assumes significance as it comes less than a month after he was removed as Amritsar Police Commissioner on August 7 and asked to report to the office of the Director General of Police, Punjab. The sudden transfer had triggered speculation, coming in the wake of a controversy over a media briefing concerning an alleged Pakistan-based terror module.The controversy erupted after portions of a press conference addressed by Bhullar on August 4 were circulated on social media, with posts allegedly giving the impression that an alleged ISI-backed terror module busted by the Amritsar Commissionerate Police was linked to protesters at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi.The Punjab Police subsequently clarified that there was no association between the protesters and the terror module. According to the police, Bhullar had stated that some of the arrested suspects had visited Jantar Mantar, conducted reconnaissance and allegedly planned to target the protesters with petrol bombs. However, he had not stated that the suspects were part of the protests or that the protesters had links with the terror module.The police had said selectively edited portions of the press conference, along with captions and visuals, had distorted its context. Legal action under the Information Technology Act was also announced against those responsible for the posts.A day after the controversy, Bhullar was shifted from the Amritsar Commissionerate and asked to report to the DGP’s office, while DIG Border Range Harmanbir Singh Gill was given the additional charge of Commissioner of Police, Amritsar.The transfer had also snowballed into a political controversy, with the BJP questioning the timing of the move and linking it to Bhullar’s disclosure of details of the alleged terror conspiracy.The Border Range comprises Amritsar Rural, Batala, Gurdaspur and Pathankot, covering a large stretch of the international border and several strategically important areas.The region has witnessed persistent attempts to push heroin, synthetic drugs, weapons and other contraband across the border, with drones emerging as a major tool for cross-border smuggling. Police and central security agencies have also been focusing on suspected attempts by Pakistan-based handlers to establish networks among local criminals and drug smugglers.During his tenure as Amritsar Police Commissioner, the commissionerate police had busted several alleged trans-border drug and arms-smuggling networks while also intensifying action against organised crime.Meanwhile, the Punjab Government has transferred SSP Mansa, Bhagirath Singh Meena, IPS  and posted him as AIG, Personnel-1, CPO, Punjab, replacing Suhail Qasim Mir, IPS. Mir has been transferred as SSP Bathinda.Similarly, Varun Sharma, IPS has been transferred from SSP, Patiala and posted as SSP, Mohali, replacing Harmandeep Singh Hans, IPS.  Hans, IPS has been posted  as SSP, Patiala, replacing Varun Sharma.SSP, Bathinda, Jyoti Yadav, IPS has been shifted and posted as Commandant, 82nd Battalion PAP, Chandigarh.Vaibhav Choudhary, IPS has been transferred from SP Headquarters, Patiala, and posted as SSP, Mansa, replacing Bhagirath Singh Meena, IPS.The officers have been directed to join their new places of posting immediately.