Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Saturday dismissed three government employees on charges of alleged relations with terrorist organizations. These employees include police constable Firdaus Ahmed Bhat, teacher Mohammad Ashraf Bhat and Forest Department employee Nisar Ahmed Khan. The Jammu and Kashmir administration has so far removed a total of 69 government employees from service since the removal of Article 370.
Constable Firdaus Ahmed Bhat used to work for terrorists
Firdaus Ahmed Bhat was appointed as SPO in 2005 and became a constable in 2011. He was arrested in May 2024 and is currently lodged in Kot Bhalwal Jail. After becoming a constable, Bhat was posted in the Electronic Surveillance Unit of Jammu and Kashmir Police, but during this time he started working for Lashkar-e-Taiba.
In May 2024, two terrorists – Wasim Shah and Adnan Baig – were arrested with weapons from Anantnag. Investigation revealed that Bhat had directed him to two other terrorists, Omas and Aqib, to supply arms. Bhat’s name came up in interrogation of the arrested terrorists.
When the police searched his house, a large quantity of weapons, ammunition, explosives and drones were recovered from the police housing colony, Qamarwari and Ghani Mohalla of Anantnag in Ghani Mohalla in Anantnag. Bhat Pakistani terrorist Sajjad was close to Jat alias Saifullah and was running a terrorist network for him.
Conspiracy hatched against his own policemen
Bhat not only gave confidential information of the security forces to the terrorists, but also provided targets for terrorist attacks. In 2020, he instructed the Lashkar terrorists to kill the Jammu and Kashmir Police’s sub-inspector Ashraf Bhat.
On 18 May 2024, he planned an attack on tourists at Yenner, Pahalgam, injuring two tourists from Rajasthan. He inspired many youths to follow the path of terrorism by making them radical. Taking advantage of the identity of his police, he also supplied weapons and explosives to the terrorists.
Forest department employee turned out to be the informer of terrorists
Nisar Ahmed Khan was admitted to the Forest Department in 1996 as a helper and was currently posted as an orderly at Verinag Range Office in Anantnag. According to security agencies, Khan was the ‘hidden agent’ of the terrorist organization Hizbul Mujahideen and was helping the terrorists by staying in the government.
Officials say that under the guise of a government job, he formed relations with Hizbul Mujahideen and started plotting against India. He used to inform the terrorists about government schemes and carried out the destructive activities by keeping in touch with terrorist organizations.
