2 Jammu And Kashmir Government Employees Dismissed Over Terror Links

For their suspected involvement in terrorist operations in the Kupwara district of Jammu & Kashmir, two detained government officials have had their employment terminated. These workers were fired by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha after they were accused of transporting weapons and having ties to the outlawed terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba.

Siyad Ahmad Khan, a worker in the Sheep Husbandry Department, and Khursheed Ahmad Rather, a teacher, have been named as the fired employees. Charges of arms smuggling have been brought against inhabitants of the Karnah and Keran neighborhoods close to the Line of Control.

According to official sources, Rather was “actively involved in subversive activities aimed at harming the state and became an active conduit for terrorist activities sponsored by LeT.”

“He played a deliberate and dangerous role in furthering the objectives of a terrorist network that is committed to destabilising the region and attacking the sovereignty of the Indian state,” said an official.

As a member of LeT’s arms smuggling module, he was actively involved in both smuggling and concealing weapons. Khan was detained on December 1, 2024, and is currently being held at the District Jail in Kupwara, according to a dossier.  He is identified in police files as an underground worker and terrorist associate of the outlawed Lashkar-e-Taiba.

“Despite being a government employee, he chose to become a collaborator of LeT in the Keran area of District Kupwara with the ultimate objective of waging a war against the Union of India,” the dossier read.

As part of a crackdown on government employees accused of anti-national activities, dozens of employees have been sacked in the Union Territory. The government is using extraordinary provisions to sack these employees while holding an inquiry.