4 J&K Government Employees Sacked For "Links With Terror Outfits": Report

Jammu and Kashmir administration has terminated four employees from the service for their "links with terror outfits" and for anti-national activities, sources said.

According to top sources in the Jammu and Kashmir government, Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha invoked 311 (2) (c) of the Constitution to sack the four government employees after painstaking investigation established that they were acting on behalf of Pakistan's ISI and the terror outfits and law enforcement and intelligence agencies had collected incriminating material evidence against them.

As part of the zero-tolerance policy against terrorism, Mr Sinha in his crackdown against terrorism has so far terminated the services of more than 50 employees who were working for terror outfits and Pakistan's ISI, sources said.

The four terminated employees are J-K Police Constables Abdul Rehman Dar and Ghulam Rasool Bhat, Jal Shakti Department Assistant Lineman Anayatullah Shah Pirzada and School Teacher Shabeer Ahmad Wani.

Sources said Abdul Rehman Dar was recruited as a constable in Jammu and Kashmir Police in its executive wing in 2002.

He belongs to Tral area of Pulwama District, which has remained traditionally a hotbed of terrorism and secessionist activities during last three decades, largely due to a strong influence of Jamat-e-Islami, (now banned) in the area.

Sources said he came to be known as being in company of those persons in his area who were working as Over Ground Workers (OGWs) of terror outfits. One such close associate of Abdul Rehman was his neighbour Sajad Hussain Parray, a staunch Over Ground Worker (OGW).

In December 2020, Awantipora Police along with other security forces cordoned off villages Dadsara and Larmoo. During search operation, four suspicious persons were found roaming in the orchards of Dadsara area, who were later apprehended by security forces. On preliminary questioning, they admitted to be OGWs of terrorist outfit Al-Badr, sources said, adding that arms and ammunition was also recovered from them.

Evidences collected showed that the accused hatched a criminal conspiracy to procure illegal arms and ammunition with the intent of committing terrorist acts in association with an active terrorists namely Umer Ali Mir (who later got eliminated in an encounter by the security forces). However, due to the timely action of Jammu and Kashmir Police, the accused were arrested and arms and ammunition recovered from them. A chargesheet has been filed against all the accused persons including Abdul Rehman Dar, who has been bailed out in the said case, sources said.

Sources said continuation of Abdul Rehman Dar in the Police Department would have set an extremely dangerous precedent, having far reaching detrimental consequences to national security and also the society at large.

"He not only has betrayed his country but also his fellow colleagues. Many of his comrades in J-K Police, living, working, training and dinning with him have got killed or injured by the very bullets that were transported by him to the terrorists," a source said.

The sources said that Anayatullah Shah Pirzada was appointed as a 'helper' in Public Health Engineering (PHE) Department, now Jal Shakti, in 1995 and was deployed in Jal Shakti (PHE) Division Baramulla where he continued to be posted up to 2009, the year he got promoted to Asst. Lineman. From 2009 to 2013, he remained posted in Jal Shakti Division North Sopore and is currently posted at Watergam, Baramulla.

As per records, Anayatullah Shah is a terrorist associate of Al-Badr Mujahideen, a proscribed terror outfit, who readily offered himself in furthering anti-national activities, sources said. He worked covertly in a variety of ways to support, sustain and further the agenda of the terrorism, they added.

The sources said Anayatullah Shah, a resident of Rafiabad area of Baramulla district, which is in proximity of LoC, would guide terrorist groups during infiltration and help them by way of providing accommodation, hideouts, food, clothing, managing fake identity cards for them and transport their illegal arms/ammunition from one place to another place to help them to reach the hinterland of Kashmir valley, sources said.

Exploiting this huge influence of terrorist network, Anayatullah Shah managed a job for himself in the government, using similar tactics of duress, coercion, threat and intimidation, like many hundred others who managed their entry in government services on gun point, in the hay days of terrorism and continued, though in smaller proportions, until 2018, the sources said.

They said Anayatullah Shah's direct links and contact with terrorists of proscribed terror outfit Al-Badr Mujahideen (Al-Badr is a designated terrorist outfit proscribed by the government) was established through investigations and his active involvement in terrorist activities in Jammu and Kashmir makes him a pervasive and a real threat to the interests of security of the state.

The sources said Constable Ghulam Rasool Bhat was recruited as a constable in Jammu and Kashmir Police in its executive wing in 2011.

They said Rasool was inducted into active terrorism by a network of overground workers (OGWs) and terrorists of the Lalgam Tral area. He is native of the area.

The sources said Rasool got himself posted as an Assistant Kote NCO in Budgam District Police Lines (Kote is a facility in Police Lines meant for storing and repairing weapons) and managed his continuous posting there for many years with the ulterior and nefarious aim to provide technical support to terrorists for the repair and maintenance of their firearms as well as arrange ammunition for them.

Sources said Shabeer Ahmad Wani, a resident of Bungam DH Pora, Kulgam has been working as a Teacher in School Education Department. He was initially engaged under the Rehbar-e-Taleem (ReT) scheme in 2004 and later got regularised as permanent Teacher.

Shabeer Ahmad Wani is an active member (rukun) of banned Jamat-e-Islami (JeI). Besides, being actively involved in JeI-related programmes in Kulgam area, he like others in JeI has been a strong protagonist of secession of Jammu and Kashmir from India.

The sources said Wani played a pivotal role in nourishing, strengthening and proliferating conducive ecosystem for secessionism and terrorism, not only in his local area but also in the neighbouring districts of Shopian and Anantnag.

The sources said it is largely by the virtue of banned JeI's activities in South Kashmir, especially in Kulgam, that terrorist had a large base of OGWs terror networks and modules sprung in the area.

Wani, as an active functionary of JeI played a substantial role in his sphere of influence in strengthening JeI and creating a network of people amongst JeI sympathizers who became the OGWs and foot soldiers of Hizbul-Mujahideen (HM) terror outfit, sources said.

According to officials in law enforcement agencies, Wani was detained under Public Safety Act in 2019 and lodged in Central Jail, Agra, for a year.

"The brazen and blatant activities of Wani gainst the very government which he draws his livelihood from and leading murderous mobs to loot weapons is a sheer act of treason which no country in the world would tolerate. This case is another instance of physical manifestation of the penetration of the adversary as well as the sinister strategy employed by the adversary involved in infiltrating individuals into the government system," a source said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)