Cop among 3 govt employees sacked for terror links in J&K

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

Jammu: Jammu and Kashmir Lt Governor Manoj Sinha on Saturday dismissed three government employees including a jailed policeman for their alleged terror links, officials said.

The sacked employees have been identified as police constable Firdous Ahmad Bhat, teacher in school education department 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, they said.

The 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.

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.

The officials said the dismissed policeman, 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, Bhat 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, Bhat 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, 3 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.

Using his police constable cover, he was transporting arms, ammunition and explosives for terrorists and investigation also revealed that he was also working for Hizbul Mujahideen’s Commander Khursheed Dar and LeT terrorist Hamza Bhai and Abu Zarar besides Jutt.

“He not only provided classified information about security forces movement, collection, storage and delivery of arms ammunition but also guided terror attacks,” the officials said.

They said he was also found involved in an attack on a police party in 2020 which led to the killing of sub-inspector Ashraf Bhat, an attack on a group of tourists in Pahalgam on May 18 last year that left two persons injured.

The officials said he was also involved in radicalising and luring the youth to join terror ranks besides using terrorists to blackmail government officials including his colleagues and businessmen.

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 currently lodged in district jail, Reasi,” the officials said.

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

“LeT found him to be very useful because as a teacher Bhat was best placed to radicalise youth and carry out terror activities. He helped LeT to raise finances for terror activities and coordinated transport of arms, ammunition and explosives,” they said.

Khan, 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 the year 2000 when a landmine blast in Anantnag killed the then power minister Ghulam Hasan Bhat and two policemen.

“Khan and another accused had provided logistical support to the terrorists to carry out the attack. He also helped in smuggling RDX used in the blast,” the officials said, adding he was arrested, chargesheeted but later acquitted in 2006 due to “witnesses backtracking, intimidating environment inside and outside the courts”.

However, despite his acquittal in 2006, Khan continued his work for the terror group. His role was once again exposed in 2016 when he played a central role during the valley's unrest following the killing of Hizbul terrorist Burhan Wani, the officials said.

They said he also mobilised mobs and youth for stone pelting and arranged weapons to attack security forces and is named in four FIRs.

After the killing of another terrorist Yawar Nisar Wagay in 2017, he once again played a key role in organising violent protests and was subsequently detained under the Public Safety Act for eight months.