SRINAGAR: Manoj Sinha, Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, has ordered the termination of five government employees found to be linked with militant organisations.
As per sources, the dismissed employees include Mohd Ishfaq, a teacher; Tariq Ahmad Shah, a laboratory technician; Bashir Ahmad Mir, an assistant lineman; Farooq Ahmad Bhat, a field worker in the Forest Department; and Mohd Yousf, a driver in the Health Department.
According to investigations by security and intelligence agencies, these individuals were covertly associated with proscribed militant outfits, including Lashkar-e-Taiba and Hizb-ul-Mujahideen. Despite holding positions of public trust, they were allegedly involved in providing logistical support, facilitating communication and aiding militant activities, while simultaneously drawing salaries from the government exchequer.
Mohd Ishfaq (Teacher) was appointed as Rehbar-e-Taleem in the School Education Department and later got confirmed as a teacher in 2013. According to investigators, Ishfaq was working for Pakistan-based militant outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). He was in regular contact with LeT commander Mohd Amin alias Abu Khubaib, a Government of India-designated individual militant operating from Pakistan. Ishfaq was given an active operational role by LeT and was tasked to execute the killing of a police officer in Doda in early 2022.
His activities were put under surveillance by security and intelligence agencies, and sustained monitoring revealed that he was helped in militant activities by certain OGWs of LeT. He was arrested in April 2022 by Jammu and Kashmir Police before he could execute the plan with the help of an OGW based in Marheen. After the arrest of Ishfaq and his associate, police recovered arms and ammunition, and sustained interrogation revealed that Ishfaq exploited his position as a teacher and influenced youth to join militant groups.
“He used his influence to spread radical ideology and motivate youth towards militancy. Ishfaq, being a teacher with unhindered access to young and impressionable minds, was a critical asset of LeT. We have received inputs that despite being in jail, Ishfaq continues to indulge in radical activities by indoctrinating jail inmates,” sources revealed.
Tariq Ahmad Rah (Lab Technician) was engaged as a lab technician on a contractual basis in 2011 and later, in 2016, his appointment was confirmed in the Health Department. He was posted at Sub-District Hospital Bijbehera, Anantnag. Sources revealed that Tariq came under the influence of militant outfit Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM) from a very young age. One of his relatives, his uncle, Amin Baba alias Abid, was also a divisional commander of HM from 1998 to 2005.
According to investigators, Tariq’s militant links emerged during a State Investigation Agency probe into the escape of Amin Baba to Pakistan in 2005. The investigation was transferred to the SIA in September 2023. The probe revealed that Tariq facilitated Amin Baba’s stay in Anantnag and later arranged his transportation to the Attari-Wagah border.
“Tariq ensured the exfiltration of a wanted militant across an international border. Due to his conspiracy, Amin Baba successfully crossed over to Pakistan and is currently operating from there to carry out militant activities in India,” sources observed.
It is learnt that Amin Baba is currently based in Islamabad and, according to intelligence inputs, attends regular meetings with ISI, LeT and JeM militants.
“He is responsible not only for training HM cadres in PoJK militant camps but also for recruiting new youth into militant ranks and planning and executing militant operations from Pakistan. After his role was unearthed, Tariq was arrested under the UAPA and later granted bail. Credible intelligence inputs indicate that after being released on bail, Tariq resumed militant activities and continues to remain in contact with militants and their supporters,” sources further revealed.
Bashir Ahmad Mir (Assistant Lineman) joined the Public Health Engineering Department in 1988 and was regularised in 1996. Despite being a government employee, Bashir became an active OGW of LeT in the Gurez area of Bandipora.
“Bashir was covertly facilitating militant activities in the hinterland of Gurez for a long time by guiding the movement of militants, providing logistical support, sharing information on the movement of security forces and providing shelter to militants. His role came to light in September 2021 when police received inputs that two LeT militants were hiding in Bashir’s house.”
An anti-militant operation was launched, and both militants were neutralised inside Bashir’s house. Two AK-47 rifles and a large cache of ammunition were also recovered. Bashir was arrested and later granted medical bail by the court.
Farooq Ahmad Bhat (Field Worker, Forest Department), despite serving as a field worker in the Forest Department in Anantnag, actively worked with Hizb-ul-Mujahideen. He was also informally working as a personal assistant to a former MLA with ties to HM.
Investigators said Farooq helped Tariq plan and execute the escape of HM commander Amin Baba to Pakistan. He used his government identity card to avoid security checks at nakas and dropped Amin Baba at the international border. In this conspiracy, the former MLA allegedly provided an official government Gypsy with his personal security officers and driver.
Farooq was arrested in 2024 and later granted bail in 2025. “But his militant activities have not stopped. He continues to maintain contact with militants and their sympathisers,” sources said.
Mohd Yousf (Driver, Health and Medical Education Department) was appointed as a driver in 2009 and posted at Bemina, Srinagar. Investigators said Yousf was in regular contact with militants, particularly Bashir Ahmad Bhat, a Pakistan-based HM militant.
On Bashir’s directions, Yousf established links with HM cadres and operatives in Pakistan and was entrusted with core tasks, including procurement of arms and ammunition and transporting funds in Ganderbal district. On July 20, 2024, police intercepted a vehicle in which Yousf and his associate Eashan Hamid were travelling and recovered one pistol, ammunition, a grenade and Rs 5 lakh in Indian currency.
“During sustained interrogation, Yousf revealed that he received the consignment on the direction of his Pakistani handler and that it was to be delivered to a militant. He further revealed that he was actively involved in providing operational logistics to militants using his official position as a hospital driver. He was also part of a network that provided phones to jailed militants to establish communication with Pakistan-based handlers,” sources added.
“However, Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha launched a major offensive in 2021 to expose and break the backbone of the militant ecosystem. From financiers to foot soldiers, his decisive and widespread action against all elements dismantled the militant infrastructure to a large extent,” (KDC)
