Black Sheeps sheltering terrorists shunted out from government services in J&k

Six Government employees were sacked for harbouring terrorists and providing logistics support

September 23, 2021

J&K government terminates service of 6 employees for terror links

Cracking its whip against the government employees including policemen, school teachers, and a forest department officer the Union Territory administration in Jammu and Kashmir has terminated the services of 6 employees for harbouring terrorists, providing them with all possible logistics support and spearheading campaigns in their support with immediate effect.

Earlier in the month of July 2021, 11 employees including two sons of Hizbul Mujahideen founder Syed Salahuddin were also handed over their termination orders for their links with different terrorist outfits.[1]

Separate termination orders were issued by the Jammu and Kashmir General Administration Department which clearly stated the activities of these employees are such as to warrant their dismissal from their services.

As per police records, “On 8 March 2019, terrorists of Hizbul Mujahideen snatched the service rifle AK-47 along with three magazines and 90 live cartridges from Head Constable Daleep Singh from his rented accommodation.

“The Lt Governor was satisfied under sub-clause (c) of the proviso to clause (2) of Article 311 of the Constitution of India that in the interest of the security of the State, it is not expedient to hold an inquiry in their cases and accordingly, LG dismissed these employees from their service with immediate effect”.

As per the dossiers prepared by the UT administration, all the six employees including two police constables and a Range Officer of the Forest department, and two government teachers were in direct touch with the terror outfits and provided them logistics support at different intervals before and after carrying out terrorist activities.

Three employees each from the Jammu division and Kashmir division have been terminated from their services.

According to official sources, a school teacher from Anantnag Abdul Hamid Wani was instrumental in organizing various events in the area where he openly propagated separatist agenda and helped in radicalizing local youth. He deliberately chose funerals, religious gatherings, and other local events to spread the ideology of secessionism. The dossier prepared by the police even mentioned that he had secured his government job with the help of a prominent cadre of Jamaat-e-Islami and used to work as an active militant of Allah Tigers, a defunct terrorist outfit before joining the government service.

Another employee sacked from his services has been identified as police constable Jaffer Hussain Butt of Hunjalla, Kishtwar. He played a key role in providing weapons to pro-Pakistan terrorist outfit Hizbul Mujahideen.

As per police records, “On 8 March 2019, terrorists of Hizbul Mujahideen snatched the service rifle AK-47 along with three magazines and 90 live cartridges from Head Constable Daleep Singh from his rented accommodation. The HC was performing the duties as In-Charge Escort with District Magistrate Kishtwar.

As per the Police dossier, Jaffer Hussain Butt was a part of a conspiracy of weapon looting as he had provided logistics support to Hizbul terrorist Osama Bin Javed alias Osama, Haroon Abbas Wani alias Haroon and Zahid Hussain. He provided them with his car to carry out this operation.

Another police constable identified as Showkat Ahmad Khan, resident of Arth, Narbal, District Budgam, acted as an Over Ground Worker (OGW) of Lashkar-e- Taiba and was involved in weapon loot from the residence of a former Member Legislative council.

Mohd Rafi Butt, Junior Assistant PWD (R&B) Kishtwar resident of Pochhal, Kishtwar had nexus with terror outfits which surfaced after one of his associates Tariq Hussain Giri was arrested by NIA investigating the case of the killing of a prominent RSS leader Chanderkant and his PSO Rajinder Kumar in the premises of District Hospital Kisthwar on 9th April 2019.

“The investigations revealed that not only did Butt provided food and shelter to Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists but also harboured and transported them from time to time to conceal their designs thereby providing them a safe environment to execute their plans in Kishtwar. An investigation conducted by NIA revealed that the attack on the RSS leader and his PSO was carried out by Osama Bin Javed alias Osama, Haroon Abbas Wani alias Haroon and Zahid Hussain after proper reconnaissance prior to the attack”.

Tariq Mehmood Kohli of Poonch, who was working as a Range officer in the Forest Department, was involved in smuggling of illegal arms, ammunition, explosives including hard drugs and currency from Pakistan as a part of a militant syndicate. “The Pakistani intelligence had provided a communication facility to Kohli by way of Pakistani SIM cards which he used in the areas adjacent to LoC for planning and executing the trans-border smuggling.

Kohli despite being a Government employee chose to build and expand a terror network of Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) in the Poonch area with the ultimate objective of waging war against the Union of India and breaking Jammu and Kashmir territorially and constitutionally from it. He remained an instrumental point-man and OGW of LeT over the years by harbouring militants.

Liyaqat Ali Kakroo, a resident of Baramulla in North Kashmir and a teacher by profession since 1983, was arrested in 2001 which “revealed that he was a locally trained terrorist”. An explosive substance was recovered from his possession and he was booked under the Public Safety Act (PSA) for two years in 2002. He was subsequently acquitted by the court in both cases.

Note:
1. Text in Blue points to additional data on the topic.
2. The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of PGurus.

References:

[1] 11 govt employees in J&K sacked for providing support to terrorists – Jul 11, 2021, ToI