Srinagar, Feb 15: The Lieutenant Governor of J&K UT, Manoj Sinha, on Saturday terminated three government employees, including a police constable, a teacher, and an orderly in the forest department.
According to top sources in the security agencies, the Lieutenant Governor invoked Article 311(2)(c) of the Constitution of India to terminate these employees after a painstaking investigation by law enforcement and intelligence agencies clearly established their terror links.
This decisive action came just a day after a security review meeting chaired by the Lieutenant Governor. During the meeting, he directed the police and security agencies to intensify anti-terror operations to neutralize terrorists and dismantle the terror ecosystem operating in the shadows. He also warned that those supporting and financing terrorism would face severe consequences.
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“Every perpetrator and supporter of terrorism must pay the price. We need to equip ourselves with credible intelligence and act more effectively to neutralize terrorists and ensure the security of citizens,” the Lieutenant Governor instructed senior police officials on February 13.
A senior security official stated that the government employees terminated by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha were serving terrorist organizations rather than the nation.
“They were betraying and sabotaging the same country that was feeding them. Take the case of Firdous Ahmad Bhat, a police constable who was orchestrating terror attacks instead of protecting the lives of ordinary citizens,” the official said.
Firdous Ahmad Bhat (Constable, J&K Police)
Firdous Ahmad Bhat was engaged as an SPO in 2005 and became a constable in 2011. He was arrested in May 2024 and is currently lodged in Kot Bhalwal Jail on terror charges. Notably, after becoming a constable, he was posted in the highly sensitive Electronic Surveillance Unit of J&K Police. However, he started working for the terror outfit Lashkar-e-Toiba.
Bhat’s activities came to light in May 2024 when two terrorists, Waseem Shah and Adnan Beigh, were arrested in Anantnag with a pistol and a hand grenade. Investigations revealed that Bhat had tasked two other local LeT terrorists, Omas and Aquib, with supplying arms and ammunition to Waseem and Adnan for planned attacks on non-local civilians and tourists in Anantnag.
During interrogation, Bhat exposed his deep involvement in terrorism. A sizable quantity of arms, including pistols, ammunition, explosives, and narcotics, was recovered from his residential quarter in the Police Housing Colony, Qamarwari, Srinagar, and a newly constructed house in Ganie Mohalla, Mattan, Anantnag. Additionally, 3 kg of charas, dropped by LeT terrorist Sajid Jutt alias Saifullah via drone in Samba, was found at his residence.
Investigations further revealed that Bhat was a close associate of Sajid Jutt and had helped him operate a vast terrorist network from Pakistan. He also worked for Hizbul Mujahideen’s commander Khursheed Dar, LeT terrorist Hamza Bhai, and Abu Zarar.
Bhat not only provided classified information on security force movements but also facilitated the collection, storage, and delivery of arms and ammunition. He identified targets for assassination and guided terror attacks. In 2020, he directed LeT terrorists in the killing of J&K Police Sub-Inspector Ashraf Bhat. On May 18, 2024, he provided information and guidance for a terrorist attack on tourists in Yanner, Pahalgam, in which two visitors from Rajasthan were injured.
Additionally, he played a significant role in radicalizing and recruiting local youth into terror ranks. Under the guise of his police role, he transported arms, ammunition, and explosives for terrorists. He even sent terrorists to the homes of government officials and businessmen to blackmail them.
A security official recalled an instance where Bhat sent Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists to the house of a sub-inspector and made threatening calls to the families of police officers on behalf of LeT.
Nisar Ahmad Khan (Orderly, Forest Department)
Nisar Ahmad Khan joined the forest department in 1996 as a helper and was posted as an orderly at the Forest Range Office, Verinag, Anantnag. Security officials who investigated his terror links described him as a “venomous traitor hiding within government ranks, a mole planted by Hizbul Mujahideen to destabilize the Indian state.”
While serving as a government employee, Khan covertly joined Hizbul Mujahideen and collaborated with separatist forces. His involvement in terrorism first surfaced in 2000 when a landmine blast in Chamaran, Anantnag, killed then-J&K Power Minister Ghulam Hasan Bhat along with two police personnel. Khan was instrumental in providing logistical support, smuggling RDX for the attack, and coordinating the assassination.
Although he was arrested and charge-sheeted, he was acquitted in 2006 due to witness intimidation. However, he continued working for Hizbul Mujahideen.
His role in anti-India activities was again exposed in 2016 when he incited violent protests after Hizbul terrorist Burhan Wani’s killing. He mobilized mobs, organized stone-pelting attacks, and provided weapons to target security forces. Four FIRs were lodged against him during this period.
After Hizbul terrorist Yawar Nisar Wagay was killed in 2017, Khan played a key role in organizing violent protests and attacks on security forces. He was detained under the Public Safety Act (PSA) for eight months, but no departmental action was taken against him due to fear among his superiors.
Despite his repeated arrests and well-established terror links, Khan continued his service in the government while aiding terrorist groups in carrying out attacks on civilians and police personnel.
Mohammad Ashraf Bhat (Teacher, Education Department)
Mohammad Ashraf Bhat, a resident of Reasi, was appointed as a Rehbar-e-Taleem teacher in 2008 and became a permanent teacher in June 2013. However, during his tenure as a teacher, he pledged allegiance to Lashkar-e-Toiba and became an overground worker for the terrorist outfit.
A senior intelligence officer in Jammu revealed that Bhat’s activities went undetected for years until his arrest in 2022. He is currently lodged in district jail, Reasi. Investigations revealed that his handler was Pakistan-based LeT terrorist Mohammad Qasim.
“LeT found Ashraf Bhat extremely useful because, as a teacher, he was best placed to radicalize young minds and carry out terror activities under the cover of a respectable profession,” an intelligence source said.
Bhat played a key role in raising funds for terror operations, coordinating the transport of arms and explosives, and delivering threat letters to individuals targeted by LeT handlers in Pakistan. Even after his arrest, he showed no remorse and continued communicating with his handlers in Pakistan through his aides. He has also been actively radicalizing inmates in district jail, Reasi.
A security official remarked: “Nowhere else in the world do you see such a situation where government employees, who are paid by the state, betray their nation and aid terrorists in killing innocent people.”
This crackdown sends a strong message that those betraying the nation from within will face severe consequences.
