In a significant move aimed at dismantling internal support networks for terrorism, Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha has dismissed three government employees for their alleged links with Pakistan-based terror outfits. The three individuals — Malik Ishfaq Naseer, Ajaz Ahmed, and Waseem Ahmad Khan — have also been jailed following a probe that connected them to banned terrorist groups Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM).
This crackdown comes in the aftermath of a deadly terror attack in April that claimed the lives of 26 civilians in the Union Territory. According to security officials, the sacked employees were not just sympathizers but active collaborators in terror operations.
Malik Ishfaq Naseer, a police constable since 2007, allegedly coordinated arms, explosives, and narcotics consignments for LeT operatives. His involvement came to light during an arms smuggling investigation. Officials said he also arranged safe hideouts for militants and supplied them with weapons. His brother, Asif Naseer, was killed in a 2019 encounter with security forces.
Ajaz Ahmed, a teacher in the School Education Department since 2011, was reportedly an active Hizbul Mujahideen associate operating in the Poonch region. Security forces arrested him in 2023 while he was transporting a consignment of arms under orders from a handler based in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir. Hizbul propaganda materials were also seized from his possession.
The third accused, Waseem Ahmad Khan, worked as a junior assistant at the Government Medical College, Srinagar, since 2007. Officials revealed his alleged role in a 2018 terror plot that led to the assassination of journalist Shujaat Bukhari and his two security guards. His links to terrorist operatives had surfaced during a broader investigation into that attack.
A senior security official stated that such infiltration into critical government departments, including the police and education sectors, poses a grave threat to national security. “A mole inside the system can compromise missions and cost lives. This action is part of a broader effort to weed out internal terror sympathizers,” the official said.
All three individuals are currently in judicial custody as investigations continue.
