J&K school principal, jail official sacked over ‘terror links’

The school principal and jail official were dismissed from services, on the orders of J&K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, after an investigation by a government task force established their terror links, they said.

A senior prisons officer and a government school principal on Tuesday were sacked by the Jammu and Kashmir administration for “actively working with terror outfits”, officials familiar with the matter said.

More than a dozen employees and officers have been sacked by the J&K administration in the past one year over alleged links with terrorists. (AFP)

Feroz Ahmad Lone, deputy superintendent of jails, J&K Prison Department, and Javid Ahmad Shah, principal of Government Girls Higher Secondary School at Bijbehara, were dismissed from services, on the orders of Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, after an investigation by a government task force established their terror links, they said.

A high-level meeting was held between senior officials at Raj Bhavan on Tuesday, following which the duo were removed under Article 311 of the Constitution, under which no inquiry is conducted before sacking, the officials cited above said on condition of anonymity.

“The Lieutenant Governor is satisfied after considering the facts and circumstances of the case and on the basis of the information available that the activities of Mr. Feroz Ahmad Lone, Deputy Superintendent Jail S/o Abdul Gaffar Lone R/o Futlipora, Chari Sharef are such as to warrant his dismissal from service,” an order issued by the administration said.

“The Lieutenant Governor is satisfied under sub-clause (c) of the proviso to clause (2) of Article 311 of the Constitution of India that in the interest of the security of the State, it is not expedient to hold an enquiry in the case of Mr. Feroz Ahmad Lone, Deputy Superintendent Jail S/o Abdul Gaffar Lone R/o Futlipora , Chrari Sharief , Budgam,” it added.

A similar termination order was issued in the name of Shah, a resident of Eidgah Bijbehara in Anantnag.

Lone, who was appointed in the government service in 2012, allegedly shares links with former Hizbul Mujahideen operational chief, Riyaz Naikoo, who was killed in an encounter with security forces in Pulwama last year, officials said.

Lone is also accused of hatching a conspiracy with terrorist commanders to send Kashmiri youth illegally to Pakistan or Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir for weapons training and later bring them back to the Valley for terror acts, they added.

“It is learnt that Lone was working for Riyaz Naikoo, the killed Hibzul Mujahideen terrorist. Investigation revealed that two persons from Pulwama district, Danish Ghulam Lone and Sohail Ahmad Bhat, were recruited and asked by Riyaz Naikoo to meet another terrorist Ishaq Palla,” one of the officials cited above said.

Shah, on the other hand, was appointed as lecturer in the J&K education department in1989. He was posted as principal of Government Girls Higher Secondary School, Bijbehara.

Shah is believed to be a sympathiser of Hurriyat and Jamat-e-Islami (JeI), another official said.

“He played the role of an advisor to Hurriyat cadre and JeI working in Bijbehara in 2016 during an agitation against Hizbul Mujahideen leader Burhan Wani. As the principal of a government institution, he ensured that Hurriyat hartal calendars were followed in letter and spirit not only in the government school which he was heading but its subsidiary institutions too,” the first official said.

More than a dozen employees and officers have been sacked by the administration in the past one year over alleged links with terrorists. In April, the L-G had set up a special task force to scrutinise and recommend cases for removal from government services, for alleged terror links, under Article 311(2)(c) of the Constitution.

Last month, the government terminated the services of Anees-us-Islam, grandson of separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani, who was working as a research officer at the Sher-e-Kashmir International Convention Centre.

Two sons of Hizbul chief Syed Salahuddin were also sacked along with 11 government employees in July this year.

The dismissal of employees had earlier attracted sharp criticism from mainstream political parties and employees unions, who alleged that the sackings were carried out on “flimsy grounds”.