New Delhi: Jammu & Kashmir Lieutenant Governor (L-G) Manoj Sinha’s decision to terminate the services of two government employees was taken considering allegations that they provided logistical support to operatives of Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist group and passed on sensitive information to their Pakistan-based handlers, ThePrint has learnt.
Sources in the J&K administration indicated that the termination action was based on reports by the law enforcement and security agencies working in the Union territory. The move is part of the J&K administration’s widespread crackdown on “sympathisers” of the terrorist ecosystem.
The sacked government officials, these sources told ThePrint, were identified as Abdul Rehman Naika and Zahir Abbas, the former working as a pharmacist in the health department since his appointment in 1992, and the latter a teacher in the education department since his appointment in 2012.
It is alleged that the two helped Hizbul Mujahideen operatives with provisions of food, shelter for arms, guiding them on ways to hide from security forces to evade arrest and also in planning attacks.
In the two years up to March 2024, 57 government employees, including a college principal, professors, a public relations officer of Kashmir University, police personnel, and doctors, were sacked in J&K for allegedly “supporting militant activities”. Of the 57, the highest number, 21, came from the education department, based on data compiled by the administration, sources said.
The L-G has been invoking Article 311 (2) (c) of the Constitution, which allows action without an inquiry in the “interest of the security of the State”, for the dismissals. Article 311 mandates procedural safeguards to be followed before a government employee can be dismissed, removed, or reduced in rank.
In August this year, the L-G had sacked six government employees, including five policemen, on similar charges, on the basis of reports from security agencies.
In July, the L-G had invoked the same Article to sack four government employees: two police constables and one staffer each from the education department and rural development department of the union territory.
In June, the L-G terminated the services of four employees: two constables, an employee in the Jal Shakti department and a school teacher. They were all dismissed for being a threat to the region.
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‘Received directions from handlers in Pakistan’
Sources in the J&K administration said that the alleged role of Naika, who hails from Kulgam district, came to the fore during investigation in the case of J&K leader Ghulam Hassan Lone, who was killed by terrorists in 2021 at his residence in the same district.
They claimed Naika was one of the plotters in the Lone murder case, kept a close eye on his movements on the day he was killed and surveyed the area to help terrorists flee the spot.
The sources further said that Naika had “confessed” to having received instructions from his handlers in Pakistan and that his job as an overground worker or OGW was to carry out reconnaissance of potential targets not only in his home district but also in neighbouring districts such as Shopian and Anantnag.
“He has been a rabid OGW and hardcore terror associate for various outfits, in particular Hizbul Mujahideen. He had a free run for a very long time. He undermined and sabotaged the very system from which he derived livelihood. Moreover, he used his privilege as a government employee to target people, police and political leaders,” a source in the security establishment told ThePrint.
‘AMU graduate, had potential to influence’
Sources in the administration identified Abbas, who comes from Kishtwar district in the Jammu division, as a “hardcore OGW”, who did not just help terrorists with food, ways to shelter arms and evade arrest, but also provided critical inputs related to movement of security forces to handlers in Pakistan.
A graduate from Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), Abbas was appointed as a teacher in 2012 and was posted at Government High School, Bugrana, they said, adding that Abbas is currently lodged in Jammu’s Kot Bhalwal jail after he was arrested in September 2020 for allegedly harbouring three active terrorists of Hizbul Mujahideen, Mohammed Amin, Reyaz Ahmad and Mudasir Ahmad, in his home district.
“His presence in a school, where he had the potential to influence, indoctrinate and radicalise students, fundamentally contradicts the principles of education and poses a direct threat to the stability and security of the nation. Even today, discreetly obtained intelligence input suggests that Zahir Abbas continues to indulge in radical activities in jail,” a source said.
The sources added that involvement of these two long-term government employees suggests the “deep infiltration” of Pakistan’s intelligence agency Inter-Services Intelligence and terror outfits operating from its territory.
“They work on a sinister strategy to sustain terror activities and secure finances from the Indian exchequer while subverting the system from within,” an official said.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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