Cop among 3 govt employees sacked over terror links in J&K; CM questions LG’s action

Jammu/Srinagar, Feb 15 (PTI) Jammu and Kashmir Lt Governor Manoj Sinha on Saturday dismissed three government employees including a jailed policeman for their alleged terror links, a move that drew sharp reactions from various quarters with Chief Minister Omar Abdullah questioning the action.

The sacked employees have been identified as police constable Firdous Ahmad Bhat, teacher Mohammad Ashraf Bhat and orderly in forest department Nisar Ahmad Khan who was earlier arrested in connection with the killing of a National Conference minister in 2000, officials said.

The LG invoked Article 311 (2) (c) of the Constitution to terminate the services of the three employees after investigation by law enforcement and intelligence agencies clearly established their terror links, the officials said.

Over 70 government employees have been fired by the LG in the Union Territory for their terror links in the past few years.

The termination of the three government employees comes close on the heels of two back-to-back security review meetings by the LG in the twin capital cities of Srinagar and Jammu, directing the security agencies to intensify anti-terror operations to neutralise terrorists and terror ecosystem.

Reacting to the dismissal of the employees – second such instance after the National Conference-led government came to power in October last year, Chief Minister Abdullah raised a question mark on the dismissal and asserted that the law says that “every accused person is innocent until proven guilty” in the court.

“If there is a proof against them (dismissed employees) and they have been given an opportunity to clear the allegations but failed… If such steps are taken without hearing them, the law says that every person accused of any crime is considered innocent until proven guilty,” Abdullah told reporters on the sidelines of a function at Katra in Reasi district.

He said everyone is getting an opportunity to speak in the court.

“There should be a court hearing and if they fail to prove their innocence, take whatever action they want,” the chief minister said.

Meanwhile, PDP president Mehbooba Mufti termed the LG’s action “arbitrary”.

“Arbitrary and summary dismissals of government employees has become a daily occurrence since 2019. What is perhaps most surprising and puzzling is that it continues unabated despite an elected government in power that had promised to put an end to such practices once in office,” Mehbooba said in a post on X.

Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq also condemned the dismissal of three employees and asked if the government wanted to remove all Kashmiris from the government jobs.

“The termination of three more state employees in such authoritarian manner is highly condemnable. Do the rulers want to remove all Kashmiris slowly and steadily from government services and render them jobless?” the Mirwaiz said in a post on X.

He said it was the duty of the elected government to take up this issue on an urgent basis.

According to the officials, dismissed policeman Firdous Ahmad Bhat, who was arrested in May last year, was initially appointed as Special Police Officer (SPO) in 2005 and subsequently promoted as constable in 2011.

Currently lodged in Kot Bhalwal Jail, Firdous was posted at a sensitive position of Electronic Surveillance Unit in the J&K Police but started working for terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). However, he got exposed when two terrorists — Waseem Shah and Adnan Beigh — were arrested in Anantnag with a pistol and a hand grenade as they were planning to attack non-local civilians and tourists, the officials said.

During the interrogation, Firdous revealed his sinister design and led to the recovery of a sizable quantity of arms including pistols, ammunition and explosives from his residential quarter in Police Housing Colony in Srinagar and a newly constructed house in Mattan, Anantnag.

According to the officials, three kg of charas was also recovered from his residence which was dropped by Pakistan-based LeT terrorist Sajid Jutt alias “Saifullah” through a drone in Samba district a few days earlier.

They said Ashraf Bhat, a resident of Reasi who was appointed as ‘Rehbar-e-Taleem’ teacher in 2008 and later regularised in June 2013, was affiliated with LeT.

“For many years his activities were undetected but eventually came to light in 2022 and he was arrested and is currently lodged in district jail, Reasi,” an official said.

During the course of investigation, it was revealed that Ashraf’s handler was the most wanted LeT terrorist Mohd Qasim, who is based in Pakistan.

Nisar Ahmad Khan, the third sacked employee, who joined the forest department in 1996 as a helper and currently posted as an orderly at the forest range office, Verinag (Anantnag), was found working for Hizbul Mujahideen, the officials said.

They said his links with the outfit first came to light in 2000 when a landmine blast in Anantnag killed the then power minister Ghulam Hasan Bhat and two policemen.