New Delhi: The Jammu and Kashmir administration on Tuesday terminated the services of three government employees, citing their alleged connections to banned outfits Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM).
This brings the total number of employees dismissed under the stringent Section 311(2)(c) of the Constitution to 83 over the past five years, a provision enabling the administration to sack a government employee without inquiry if it’s deemed essential for state security.
The dismissed individuals include Malik Ishfaq Naseer, a police constable; Ajaz Ahmed, a teacher in the school education department; and Waseem Ahmad Khan, a junior assistant at Government Medical College, Srinagar.
Official sources provided stark details about their alleged complicity in terror activities. Waseem Khan, appointed in 2007, is reportedly linked to the plot behind the targeted killing of journalist Shujaat Bukhari and two of his PSOs on June 14, 2018, the Indian Express reported.
He was arrested in August 2018 during an investigation into terror associates. Police constable Malik Ishfaq Naseer, recruited in 2007 and identified as the brother of a slain “Pakistan-trained terrorist” from LeT, is accused of continuing his terror activities with impunity. His alleged LeT links surfaced in September 2021 during a probe into arms and explosives smuggling in Jammu.
Ajaz Ahmed, a teacher recruited in 2011, is alleged to have actively collaborated with HM in Poonch, assisting in the smuggling of arms, ammunition, and narcotics. His suspected association came to light in November 2023 when police arrested him and a friend during a routine check, uncovering a consignment reportedly received on the instructions of a handler based in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, intended for attacks on security forces and civilians.
These fresh dismissals follow closely on the heels of the devastating Pahalgam terrorist attack on April 22, where 26 lives, including 25 tourists and one Kashmiri, were tragically lost. India responded decisively with ‘Operation Sindoor’ on May 7, targeting terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. This triggered a brief military confrontation, leading to Islamabad requesting a cessation of hostilities on May 10, which was eventually agreed upon.
