J&K L-G dismisses two teachers for suspected links with Lashkar-e-Taiba

Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Thursday dismissed two government employees for their alleged links with terrorists, officials said.

So far, around 80 government employees have been terminated from service by invoking Article 311 of the Constitution by the LG-led administration in the past five years.

The officials said the action is part of Sinha's “zero-tolerance” policy against terrorism and a broader crackdown on the terror ecosystem within Jammu and Kashmir.

The LG terminated the services of Ghulam Hussain and Majid Iqbal Dar, both teachers, who were found actively involved in supporting activities of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) outfit, the officials said.

Hussain, appointed as Rehbar-e-Taleem (ReT) teacher in 2004, was regularised in 2009 and posted at the government Primary School, Kalwa, Mahore in Reasi.

According to sources, Hussain was covertly working for Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) to carry out terrorist activity. As an over ground worker (OGW), he was tasked to strengthen the terror network in Reasi and the surrounding areas and was arrested in 2023.

“The evidence collected by the investigators from law enforcement and intelligence agencies have revealed that Hussain was in touch with LeT terrorists Mohd Qasim and Ghulam Mustafa through encrypted messaging applications.

“Both were his handlers, and Ghulam Hussain was carrying out the terror activities as per their directions. He received terror funds via a local conduit, which he subsequently delivered to families of known terrorists as a means to support terrorism, and also distributed money for the recruitment of terrorists and paid for logistics,” the sources said.

They said the investigations also revealed that he was receiving regular parcels and financial assistance through various conduits.

“Hussain did not commit terrorist acts solely for the greed of money but also due to his sympathies towards terrorism, both as an ideology and a violent campaign. He came to be exposed as an OGW planted within the system in Reasi to radicalise youth and recruit them in the terror fold,” the officials said.

They said Hussain displayed disloyalty, both towards the nation and towards the education department, by turning into an accomplice and an OGW of the LeT terror outfit.

“During investigations carried out in the instant case, it was established that his links to the terrorist ecosystem have been through a network of other OGWs who have been operating at the behest of terrorist outfit LeT,” the sources said.

They said having a dangerous terror collaborator working as a teacher in the school is a huge threat to the young and impressionable minds, and it also puts at risk the lives of hundreds of children.

Dar was appointed as a laboratory Assistant in 2009 in the School Education Department on compassionate grounds after the death of his father. He was later promoted to a teacher in 2019.

Dar was working as an OGW of the LeT terror outfit and became one of the key figures involved in radicalising youngsters in Rajouri and the surrounding region, the sources said.

They said the investigation has also revealed that Dar was also involved in narco-terror and maintained a close link with LeT terrorist Mod Jabar.

Dar, as a reliable asset of LeT, was using the drug money to finance terror activities and the radicalisation of gullible youth. His terror link was exposed in January 2023 when police recovered an IED planted near J&K Bank in Rajouri, they said.

During the course of the investigation, the sources said police arrested three persons, including Dar. It was later revealed that the teacher and LeT terrorists, Jabar and Zohaib Shazad, had planted the IED on the instructions of their handler in Pakistan, and they had also received money via a conduit.

The sources said that, subsequent to his detention, Dar has continued to display radical tendencies inside the prison and remained deeply committed to the terrorist ideology.

“Dar has been doing this for a long time; that too at the cost of the government exchequer and has managed to evade the law for many years, is a double jeopardy against public interest. Dar's damage value is humongous because he was working within the sensitive education department,” sources within the law enforcement agencies said.

Recently, the LG had observed that the war against terror is not over and that a lasting peace can only be achieved by completely dismantling the terror ecosystem.

“War against terrorism is not over yet. Kinetic and non-Kinetic operations must continue. We must maintain the momentum and take stringent action against terrorism and its entire ecosystem," Sinha had told the security and intelligence officials.