In a bid to clean the administration which has for long been taken for a ride by anti-state forces, the Jammu and Kashmir UT Administration on September 22 terminated the services of six more government employees under provisions of Article 311(2)(c) of the Constitution. All these employees were found to be involved in anti-state activities.
Over the last three decades in Kashmir, the state had wittingly or otherwise incentivized activities detrimental to the larger interests of the nation. According to some statistical reports, around 50,000 persons who were directly involved in militancy-related activities managed to secure government jobs in the first phase of militancy in the 1990s. The number of those who aided and abetted terrorism covertly and still managed to secure government jobs is stated to be much higher. The data collected by KZINE through various sources suggests that the legitimate recruiting authorities during that period were either complacent or complicit. By staying mute spectators to the hijacking of recruitment by militant ranks across the government departments, they made huge personal fortunes. Militants and their over-ground sympathizers threatened and intimidated those officers who resisted their diktat.
In the last few months, the LG Administration has invoked Article 311 (2)(c) of the Constitution to clean up the mess. According to authoritative sources, besides many other moral, ethical and legal impediments, the complacency of the Administration majorly had degraded the work culture in Jammu and Kashmir. Mushrooming of employees unions and associations who constantly bullied the state had become a common feature. Every single government department had more than two employees unions. This was indicative of how government employees were indulging in power games and at times holding the departments to ransom. The action under Article 311 has started yielding positive results. It has tamed the employees who had taken the magnanimity of the state for granted. Now there is this realization that every single individual of the state is accountable for his actions, or shall have to bear the cost.
Recent terminations from service, reasons for state action
Jaffer Hussain Butt, Constable EXJ-116221 (Belt Number 327/KTR), resident of Hunjalla tehsil, Kishtwar district
On March 8, 2019, armed terrorists of Hizb ul Mujahideen (HM) snatched the service rifle AK-47 along with three magazines and 90 live cartridges from Head Constable Daleep Singh from his rented accommodation at Asrarabad Kishtwar. The Head Constable was performing the duties as In-Charge Escort with District Magistrate Kishtwar.
The incident sent shock waves and spread terror through Kishtwar, as it took place soon after the killing of BJP leader Anil Parihar and his brother Ajeet Parihar. Jaffer Hussain Butt was part of the conspiracy of the looting of the weapon. He had willingly and knowingly provided logistics support to the Hizb ul Mujahideen terrorists namely Osama Bin Javed, Haroon Abbas Wani, and Zahid Hussain. Butt provided them with his Maruti Suzuki Alto Car 800 bearing registration number JK-17/5025. Butt also facilitated their safe movement to target Head Constable Daleep Singh and snatch his service rifle from his rented room. Soon after coming to know about the incident and sensing trouble, Butt cooked up a false story for his colleagues and senior police officers. He informed that the registration number of his vehicle is JK17-2550 (the correct number was JK17-5025). As a result, the police could not initiate immediate counteraction against the terrorists. Providing false information revealed Jaffer Hussain Butt’s criminal intention and motive. It also revealed his deep involvement in the terror incident. The police later learned that Osama bin Javid, one of the terrorists involved in the crime was closely known to Butt.
Mohd Rafi Butt, Junior Assistant PWD (R&B), Kishtwar
Resident of Pochhal tehsil, Kishtwar district
The nexus between Mohd Rafi But and the terrorists in Kishtwar surfaced after one of his associates Tariq Hussain Giri was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA). At that time, NIA was investigating the case of the killing of prominent RSS leader Chanderkant and his PSO Rajinder Kumar in the premises of District Hospital Kisthwar on April 9, 2019.
The investigation revealed that Mohd Rafi Butt provided food and shelter to the Hizb ul Mujahideen terrorists. He also harboured and transported them from time to time to conceal their designs. In this way, Butt provided the terrorists with a safe environment to execute their terror plans in Kishtwar. Investigation conducted by NIA revealed that the attack on the RSS leader and his PSO was carried out by three HM terrorists, namely Osama Bin Javed Osama, Haroon Abbas Wani and Zahid Hussain after proper reconnaissance prior to the attack. It was also revealed during investigation that this incident was among the four terror-related incidents committed in the period from November 2018 to September2019 by Hizb ul Mujahideen. This was part of Pakistan’s conspiracy to create panic and terror, and force the exodus of the Hindu community from Kishtwar district and other areas of the erstwhile Doda district.
Liyaqat Ali Kakroo, Teacher, Nambla Uri, Baramulla district
Resident of Nambla Uri
Liyaqat Ali Kakroo remained a local trained militant of Hizb ul Mujahideen even in service. A large part of his illegal activities including his clandestine participation in terror activities could not be formally documented in police records. It was only after his arrest in December 2001 that his real face as a locally trained terrorist of HM was exposed. On 17 December 2001, following specific information, the 34th Bn of BSF laid an ambush in Chan Mohalla, Chattabal, Srinagar. Liyaqat Ali Kakroo was apprehended by the ambush party. He had two hand grenades, and 20 explosives sticks weighing 2 kg in his possession. It was this incident which exposed him to be a trained militant of HM.
Even after getting bail in this case, Kakroo continued his activities. In June 10, 2002, 12th Bn of SIKH LI while patrolling along Dudran Barnali track in Boniyar, Uri, apprehended him carrying a large cache of arms, ammunition and explosives including a Chinese pistol and hand grenades for terrorist activities. It was openly known in his area that after being arrested and detained under J&K Public Safety Act (PSA) for his role as a HM terrorist in the year 2001-02, Kakroo stealthily transformed himself into a hardcore Over Ground Worker (OGW) of HM. He brazenly used his position as a government teacher to give legitimacy to his extremist and secessionist agenda against the Indian state in and around Baramulla and Srinagar area. He was an important and confidential OGW of HM. He was given the tasks of safely transporting arms, ammunition and explosives for terror activities.
The well knit terror network of Liyaqat Ali Kakroo with HM terrorists again came to surface. On April 26, 2021, following an intelligence input, he along with his associate Asgar Mir, son of Hafizulla Mir of Trikanjan Parbela, Baramulla was arrested in a joint operation carried out by the Police and 53rd Bn of CRPF at Domail Baramulla. One Chinese grenade each was recovered from him and his associate.
Showkat Ahmad Khan,
Selection Grade Constable (SGCT) ARP-076305
Resident of Arth, Narbal, Budgam district
Showkat Ahmad Khan is a notorious and hardcore sympathiser and Over Ground Worker (OGW) of Lashkar e Taiba. He brazenly used his position as a police constable to give legitimacy to the secessionist agenda. In utter disregard of his mandate to work for the Police Department which is at the forefront of fighting terrorism, Showkat clandestinely got involved in activities detrimental to the security of the state.
Abdul Hamid Wani aka Rouf-ul-Islam
Teacher GMS Hunaman Sirigufwara, Anantnag
A resident of Dupatyar Bijbehara, Anantnag
Abdul Hamid Wani, also known as Rouf-ul-Islam, is a former terrorist with the group Allah Tigers. He has a long history of actively propagating secessionism and separatism in his area. The gravity of his involvement in secessionism can be gauged from the fact that even while being a government teacher, he became the District Commander of the terror group Allah Tigers. During his active role as a terrorist, he was closely associated with another former terrorist turned businessman and member of Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI), namely Abdul Aziz Bhat of Arder, Anantnag. Abdul Hamid Wani and his associates extorted a lot of money on gun point from the local public for themselves and also to carry out terrorist activities in the area.
Allah Tigers, the small radical terrorist outfit, was involved in organised armed rebellion against the Indian State. It was in favour of Kashmir’s merger with Pakistan.This group was notorious for shutting down cinemas, bars and beauty parlours in Kashmir valley. Any one not obeying their diktats was threatened with death. Leveraging his affiliation with Jamaat e Islami, Abdul Hamid Wani manipulated some government officers in his area to secure an appointment order in his favour in 1988-89. He was a backdoor appointee, and hence never underwent a public selection proceeding. This strategy was widely used by Jamaat e Islami to enlarge its mass base, manage financial resources and intrude into the government machinery, particularly school education.
Disregarding his service mandate, Abdul Hamid Wani propagated his ideology of terrorism and secessionism while participating in Friday sermons in local mosques. At the funerals of killed terrorists and during condolences (Taiziyat) gatherings of civilians in the area, he constantly projected these as oppression by Indian security forces.
Tariq Mehmood Kohli, Range Officer (Agrostology-Poonch)
Resident of Chandak Haveli, Poonch district
Tariq Mehmood Kohli was thickly into smuggling of illegal arms, ammunition, explosives including hard drugs and Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN) from Pakistan as part of a terrorist syndicate. The Pakistani intelligence had provided communication facility to Tariq Mehmood Kohli by way of Pakistani SIM cards. He used these in the areas adjacent to LoC for planning and executing the trans-border smuggling. From 2000 to 2010, he was one of the top subversive agents of Pakistan, and played a key role in sustaining and promoting terrorism in Poonch. He was later asked by Pakistan to tone down his activities and function as a a sleeper cell to strike back when the situation became favourable for terrorists and secessionists.
Despite being a government officer, Tariq Mehmood Kohli chose to build and expand the terror network of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) in Poonch with the ultimate objective of waging war against the state and breaking Jammu and Kashmir territorially and constitutionally. Tariq Mehmood Kohli remained an instrumental point-man and OGW of LeT over the years and harboured terrorists. Kohli was once a close associate of LeT commander Abu Hanzla, with whom he had planned and executed many subversive activities in Poonch district. Kohli resorted to clandestine methods in assisting Pakistan and the enemy engaged in hostility with Indian state but also pumped in Fake Indian Currency Notes. His concealment of the criminal acts facilitated Pakistan in carrying out activities prejudicial to national security.
After a one-letter communication between the DM Poonch and the SSP Poonch, Kohli was able to sabotage his detention order under PSA through his channels of influence. The play of the same channels of extraneous influence in the politico-administrative framework was the reason why many cases could not be taken to their logical and legal conclusion earlier.
