The Jammu and Kashmir administration is pushing the war against the terrorist ecosystem and its key stakeholders, who were surreptitiously inducted into the government machinery by political regimes of different shades in the past. In the latest development, four more employees were terminated on Wednesday by the J&K administration under Article 311 (2) (c) of the Constitution.
In the last three years, J&K authorities have invoked Article 311 (2) (c) of the Constitution to sack more than 50 employees, who were operating in the shadows within the government and drawing salaries from the public exchequer but were helping Pakistani terror outfits, providing logistical support to terrorists, propagating terrorist ideology, raising terror finances, and furthering a secessionist agenda.
Among them is Salam Rather, ‘Laboratory Bearer’ in the Higher Education Department. A Laboratory Bearer’s job requires preparing samples for testing using various laboratory equipment and to maintain all lab records of the college. But, officials say his real job was to recruit gullible youth for terrorist outfit Hizbul Mujahideen and Lashkar-e-Taiba, build a network of overground workers and logistical supporters. He was first inducted inside the government system in 1990 as a daily wager and subsequently regularised in 1998.
Here is a snapshot of Salam Rather and three others gleaned from the painstaking investigation conducted by intelligence agencies.
1. Salam Rather, Lab Bearer, Higher Education Dept: After joining government service in 1990, Salam Rather would hardly show up for duty and instead emerged as a more powerful and effective activist of terror outfits like HM in Kulgam district. It is pertinent to mention that Kulgam area has remained an epicentre of terrorist violence especially during the late 1990s and early 2000s with the influx of foreign Pakistani origin terrorists of LeT, JeM, HuM, Al-Badar, etc. During those times he established contact with the most dreaded Pakistani terrorist of LeT, namely Habibullah Malik, code name Sajid Jutt aka Saifulla, son of Mohammad Rafeeq resident of Kasoor, Punjab, Pakistan. Malik would eventually take the reins of LeT in the entire valley and became the so-called chief commander of the outfit before escaping to Pakistan in 2005.
Leveraging his close association with Jutt, he became powerful in political circles also and using this, he got himself permanently absorbed in the Higher Education Department. Sources said that Salam Rather’s appointment was the result of just one qualification: his powerful position in the secessionist-terrorist system.
“He took full advantage of the pre-abrogation environment of competitive separatism between the regional parties and the normalisation of using terror networks to outsmart rivals,” the sources said.
The sources also confirmed that “It was an association of extraordinary trust and commitment. Taking this to next level, he offered his adopted daughter (sister of his wife whom Rather adopted as daughter) to Sajid Jutt for marriage. So, a dreaded terrorist and a sworn enemy of India was not only sheltered, facilitated and supported by Salam rather but he even offered his daughter in wedlock.
On 26.03.2005 in a counter-terror operation by Police and SFs, Sajid Jutt was cornered along with local terrorist Jehangir Mir in a hideout constructed in the courtyard of Jalal ud Din Wani in Rather’s village of Yamrach, Kulgam. While the local terrorist got killed, Jutt escaped after killing policeman Gowhar Ahmad. As the noose tightened around Jutt, Rather coaxed him and facilitated his escape to Pakistan.
Salam Rather visited Pakistan on two occasions to meet Sajid Jutt on 05.02.2016 and 11.07.2017, staying there for 18 days on the first visit and for 10 days during his second visit.
2. Dr Nisar Ul Hassan, Assistant Professor, Medicine at SMHS Hospital, Srinagar: Dr Nisar Ul Hassan was appointed as a consultant, medicine, SMHS Hospital. He has been working as Assistant Professor, Medicine, at SMHS Hospital, Srinagar, and is a self-styled president of the Doctors Association of Kashmir (DAK) for the last 8 years though he has never participated in DAK elections. Credible reports suggest that the President of DAK Dr Mohammad Yusuf Tak has communicated in writing to Divisional Commissioner Kashmir questioning the locus of Dr Nisar in representing DAK before media and the public.
Dr Nisar, by misusing and exploiting his official position, has always tried to maintain his dominance in the public sphere by indulging in secessionist activities in flagrant violation of service rules as well as the security of the state. He has established himself as a staunch separatist and would consistently provide moral and background support to secessionists and terrorists within Kashmir. He used to participate in the meetings/seminars organised by separatist organisations.
Sources said Dr Nisar under the patronage of Pakistani proxies operating in J&K, while maintaining his association with the medical field has been continuously fuelling and furthering separatist ideology within the medical professionals of J&K. In an incident, where four terrorists were killed by security forces when they attacked a CRPF camp at Gagren, Shopian, in 2013, Dr Nisar brazenly provoked and incited people to come in support of ‘terrorists’ by labelling the terrorists as ‘mujahids’ and branded them to have been fighting for the noble cause of so-called freedom of Kashmir from India.
3. Abdul Majeed Bhat, Constable, Jammu Kashmir Police: Abdul Majeed Bhat was appointed SPO in District Kupwara in 2011 and later on confirmed as Constable in 2016. In 2022, a total of 1.85kg of heroin worth several crores was recovered and seized by police in Kupwara. The recovery was done mainly from 2 civilian accused. The evidence collected in the case has strongly established the role of Abdul Majeed Bhat and other police personnel (SPOs) in drug-peddling activities. He was arrested in this case and is under judicial custody till date. The case has been charge-sheeted in the court of law. During investigation of this case, it has come to the fore that he used to collect the narcotics from other associates who would fetch it from border areas of Uri. These heroin consignments were sent from Pakistan through HM terrorist handler Shakir Khan.
Investigations have established that Majeed would not only coax innocent youth into drug addiction but would procure and sell the narcotics sent from Pakistan for easy personal gains. Being a member of cross-LoC narco-terror syndicate, Majeed has been directly contributing to the funding of terrorism by way of receiving and selling smuggled narcotics sent by HM terrorists sitting in Pakistan, for furthering the objectives of terrorist organisations.
“This direct relationship between narcotics sent from Pakistan and terrorism makes narcotics trafficking in J&K’s context as a real threat to the security of the state. Majeed being in the police department knew this arrangement, however, still indulged in the narcotic trade at the cost of the innocent lives of the country, by undermining the uniform that took not only public exchequer but precious time of the department in imparting training to an individual who turned out to be a staunch criminal sidelining with the adversary, contrary to a law enforcement officer,” sources added.
4. Farooq Ahmad Mir, Teacher: Farooq Ahmad Mir was initially appointed in the Education Department in 1994 and was later promoted as a teacher in 2007. Investigations looking into his background revealed that Farooq Ahmad Mir gained prominence in District Kupwara as a staunch supporter and sympathiser of banned Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) and joined active terrorism in 1990 by illegally crossing the LoC to obtain terrorist training in Pakistan.
After getting trained for about a year in an ISI-run terrorist camp in PoJK, he infiltrated back to this side in 1991. He was designated as a top commander of the Hizbul Mujahideen terror outfit. He was arrested by security forces and remained in detention for two years to be subsequently released in 1993.
Immediately after his release, Farooq made good use of his affiliation and influence within the secessionist-terrorist ecosystem to get himself appointed as a Class-IV employee in the Education Department. Being a Pakistan-trained terrorist and having a significant position in the secessionist camp, bestowed him huge power. Like many such other entities, his name would instil fear and awe in common people and the local administration.
Sources said despite being a Pakistan-trained terrorist and being in jail for two years, Farooq Ahmad Mir was appointed by a selection committee and then allowed to join, which raises a huge question mark over the then government function.
Not mending his ways, Farooq played a major role in the violent agitation that erupted in 2016 after Burhan Wani’s killing and was at the forefront of mobilising mobs and instigating violence in Kupwara town. This proves the influence and penetration of adversaries within the government system, sources further revealed.
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