2 Govt employees from Kupwara sacked for terror links

Srinagar, Aug 22: Two jailed employees of the Jammu and Kashmir government have been terminated from service for their alleged involvement in terrorist activities in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district.

Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha ordered the termination of these employees facing charges of arms smuggling and links with the banned terrorist organisation Lashkar-e-Toiba.

The sacked employees have been identified as Khursheed Ahmad Rather, a teacher, and Siyad Ahmad Khan, an employee in the Sheep Husbandry Department.

Both residents of the Karnah and Keran areas near the Line of Control (LoC) are facing charges of arms smuggling.

According to officials, the action was taken after law enforcement and intelligence agencies gathered “incriminating material evidence” establishing their direct links with Lashkar-e-Toiba operatives.

Officials said that the terminations were carried out under Article 311(2)(c) of the Constitution of India, which empowers the government to dismiss employees without an inquiry if deemed necessary in the interest of the security of the state.

The administration has, in recent years, intensified its crackdown on government employees suspected of links with militant groups, with dozens terminated since 2021 under similar provisions.

An official said that Khurshid Ahmad Rather was appointed to government service as Rehbar-e-Taleem (ReT) in the School Education Department in 2003 and was confirmed as a teacher in 2008.

He is posted at Government Primary School Maindpora, Nawa Gabra, Kupwara.

Presently, he is under suspension since his arrest on January 26, 2024, and is lodged at the District Jail, Kupwara.

“Khurshid is listed in Police records as an Over Ground Worker (OGW) of the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT),” the officials said.

“Despite being employed and paid by the government to serve in the Education Department, Khurshid violated this trust and chose to secretly associate himself with LeT. Then, fulfilling his duties of imparting education to the children of the remote district of Jammu and Kashmir, Rather became actively involved in subversive activities aimed at harming the state and became an active conduit for terrorist activities sponsored by LeT. His actions were not merely passive or incidental; rather, he played a deliberate and dangerous role in furthering the objectives of a terrorist network that is committed to destabilizing the region and attacking the sovereignty of the Indian state,” they added.

“On January 25, 2024, Police in Kupwara received credible information that two PoK-based terrorists of the LeT outfit, Manzoor Ahmad Sheikh alias Shakoor, a Kashmiri native operating from Pakistan, and Qazi Muhammad Khushal, a Kashmiri native operating from Pakistan, were involved in smuggling arms, ammunition, and explosives from across the border. This operation was being facilitated through their local associates, Khurshid Ahmad Rather, Zahoor Ahmad Bhat, Ghulam Sarwar Rather, and Qazi Fazal of Karnah, Kupwara, with the objective of promoting terrorism in the J&K and other parts of the country,” the officials said.

“Upon this, a case FIR No 07/2024 under Sections 120-B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), 13, 18, 20, 23, 38, and 39 UA(P) Act was registered in Police Station Karnah, Kupwara. During the investigation, Zahoor Ahmad Bhat was arrested on January 25, 2024, and it was established that he played a key role in transporting the arms and ammunition and was in direct and regular contact with LeT handlers across the border, they said. “He had received consignments of arms and ammunition from across the border, one of which he had concealed at Kachwayian Karanu Nalla Karnah, and said consignment of arms and ammunition was recovered from the said location.”

The officials said that the recovery of arms and ammunition, including five AK-type short MP5 rifles, five AK short MP5 magazines, 16 AK short MP5 rounds, one AK-47 rifle, one AK-47 magazine, 20 AK-47 rounds, two pistols, and two pistol magazines in the case clearly reflects the depth of Khurshid’s engagement in unlawful activities.

They said that of the seized arms and ammunition, three AK-type short MP5 rifles, three magazines, and 16 rounds were recovered based on Khurshid’s disclosure.

These arms and ammunition had been concealed by Khurshid and Mudasir Shafeeq Rather.

The official said that Khurshid has been conducting his activities in a secretive and covert manner to evade suspicion by the security forces.

“Pursuant to his subversive anti-national activities, Khurshid, on January 12, 2024, while he was on one such mission to supply arms and ammunition to LeT, was intercepted at Peer Baba shrine in Keran by a party of Police and Army at a checkpoint. On searching, an AK-47 was recovered from his possession, and one pistol and one pistol magazine, and five pistol rounds were recovered from his associate, Rafaqat Ahmad Khan. The recovery of these arms and ammunition in the case clearly reflects the depth of engagement in unlawful activities. Upon this, case FIR No 02/2024 under sections of 7/25 of the Arms Act, 13 of the UA(P) Act was registered at Police Station Keran, Kupwara,” they said.