Cop, teacher among 3 J&K govt staffers sacked for terror links

NEW DELHI: Three J&K government employees - a police constable, a teacher, and an orderly in the forest department - were dismissed by order of LG Manoj Sinha on Saturday for alleged terror activities, including arranging weapons, providing targets for terror attacks, and fueling violent protests in the Valley, all at the behest of handlers based in Pakistan and POK.
The terminated staffers - constable

Firdous Ahmad Bhat

, teacher

Mohammad Ashraf Bhat

, and orderly

Nisar Ahmad Khan

- were dismissed under Article 311 2(c) of the Constitution of India, taking the total number of such dismissals to around 72.
Firdous and Ashraf are lodged in separate jails of Jammu region in terror cases, while Nisar was detained for eight months under the PSA.
Firdous, engaged as a special police officer in 2005, became a constable in 2011 & was posted at J&K Police's electronic surveillance unit, but started working for Lashkar-e-Taiba. He was held in 2024 in a case related to a plot to attack non-locals in Anantnag.

"Arms and narcotics were recovered from Firdous's houses in Srinagar & Anantnag. Probe revealed that Firdous was an associate of 'most-wanted' PoK-based LeT terrorist Sajid Jutt and had also worked for Hizbul Mujahideen," a source in the intelligence establishment told TOI.
Firdous would also leak classified information on the movement of Indian security forces. He allegedly provided targets for and even guided terror attacks, including one that killed J&K Police SI Ashraf Bhat in 2020 and another that left two tourists injured in Pahalgam in May last year.
Nisar Ahmad Khan, who joined the forest dept in 1996 and was posted as an orderly at the forest range office, Verinag, Anantnag, is described by the security agencies as a "mole planted by Hizbul Mujahideen to destabilise the Indian State". His Hizbul links first came to light in 2000 when he was accused in a landmine blast in Anantnag that had killed the then power minister Ghulam Hasan Bhat. Nasir was charged with providing logistical support to the attackers and smuggling RDX used in the blast.
Ashraf Bhat, a resident of Reasi, was made as a permanent teacher in 2013, but became an LeT worker. He was held for alleged terror links in 2022. Ashraf's handler was 'most-wanted' LeT terrorist Md Qasim based in Pakistan.