Srinagar (J&K): Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha led Jammu and Kashmir administration sacked three employees for allegedly having links with militant groups. According to officials, the three employees have been terminated on the recommendation of a designated committee constituted under Article 311 (2) (c) of the Constitution that allows dismissal from service without an inquiry in the interest of the State’s security.
Sharing the details about the sacked employees on Friday, officials said, "Altaf Hussain Pandit, a chemistry professor at Kashmir University, Mohammed Maqbool Hajam, a teacher in the school education department, and Ghulam Rasool, a constable with the Jammu and Kashmir police, have been terminated. Pandit was closely associated with the proscribed Jamaat-e-Islam (JeI). He had crossed over to Pakistan for terror training and remained an active terrorist of the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front for three years before his arrest by the security forces, sometime in 1993," officials said, adding, "He continued to be an active cadre of JeI and worked as a terror recruiter. Pandit was instrumental in organising stone-pelting and violent protests over the killing of terrorists in 2011 and 2014."
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According to officials, Pandit became an executive member of the Kashmir University Teachers Association in 2015 and used his position to propagate secessionism among students. He was instrumental in motivating three students of Kashmir University to join terror ranks. Hajam, a teacher of the school education department, was also an overground worker (OGW) and he used to radicalise people, officials said.
He was part of a mob, which attacked a police station in Sogam and other government buildings. Despite being a government teacher, he was always found to be involved in militancy-related activities. Rasool, a constable with the Jammu and Kashmir police, was working as an underground supporter of militants, they said. The officials further said, "He also acted as an informer to militants and used to tip-off militants and OGWs about anti-militancy operations. He used to leak the names of police personnel involved in the operations.
Rasool was also in touch with Hizbul Mujahideen militant Mushtaq Ahmad alias Aurangzeb, who has crossed over to Pakistan, they said. “The recent crackdown is part of the government efforts to detect and mitigate terror elements within the system, who somehow managed to sneak in during the previous regimes." The J&K administration has been sacking its employees on accusations of having links with militants and separatists and so far 37 employees have been terminated from their service.
