Overview
- Officials say the removals stem from multi-agency dossiers and a broader purge begun in 2020 that has led to about 85 dismissals.
- The terminated employees are Mohammad Ishfaq (teacher), Tariq Ahmad Shah (lab technician), Bashir Ahmad Mir (assistant lineman), Farooq Ahmad Bhat (forest worker) and Mohammad Yousuf (health department driver).
- Security agencies allege ties to Lashkar-e-Taiba and Hizb-ul-Mujahideen that included recruitment, logistics, fund transfers and communication with Pakistan-based handlers.
- Examples cited include teacher Mohammad Ishfaq’s alleged 2022 plot after contact with LeT commander Abu Khubaib, lab technician Tariq Ahmad Shah’s role in aiding HM commander Amin Baba’s 2005 exfiltration, and assistant lineman Bashir Ahmad Mir sheltering militants killed in a 2021 Gurez raid.
- Officials also accuse forest worker Farooq Ahmad Bhat of aiding HM operations and driver Mohammad Yousuf of moving arms and cash, while opposition figures including Mehbooba Mufti and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq criticize dismissals carried out without trials.