Sanjay Pandita
Early Times Report
Jammu, Jan 1: Even as 82 government employees have been terminated over the past three years for their involvement in anti-national activities, security agencies have identified more than 120 additional employees suspected of being terror-friendly and currently under surveillance.
Highly placed sources said that in 2026, these employees are likely to face action for their alleged subversive and anti-India activities. However, instead of proceeding with mass dismissals, the authorities plan to act in a calibrated and phased manner.
“Action will not be taken against all of them at once. Their activities are being closely monitored, and action will be initiated in instalments based on evidence,” the sources said, adding that the government is also in the process of preparing a separate list of individuals involved in narco-terrorism.
The structured process of identifying and removing terror-linked government employees began in 2021 with the constitution of a dedicated panel to scrutinise staff suspected of having links with terrorist organisations. The exercise gained momentum in April 2021 with the formation of a Special Task Force (STF), mandated exclusively to identify governm Security agencies have identified more than 120 additional employees suspected of being terror-friendly and currently under surveillance.
These employees are likely to face action for their alleged subversive and anti-India activities.
Their activities are being closely monitored, and action will be initiated in instalments based on evidence.
The government is also in the process of preparing a separate list of individuals involved in narco-terrorism.
The STF, headed by Jammu and Kashmir’s intelligence chief—an officer with over a decade of experience in the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW)—works in close coordination with the Terror Monitoring Group (TMG). The group collects and verifies intelligence inputs before forwarding cases to the competent committee established in July 2020 for final action.
One of the earliest and most prominent actions under the initiative was taken in July 2021, when 11 government employees were dismissed, including two sons of Hizbul Mujahideen’s self-styled ‘supreme commander’ Syed Salahuddin. The two, Syed Ahmad Shakeel and Shahid Yousuf, were found to be involved in terror-funding activities.
Other notable dismissals included that of Naib Tehsildar Nazir Ahmad Wani for alleged anti-India activities and Deputy Superintendent of Police Davinder Singh for his purported links with terrorist elements.
The drive to weed out terror-linked employees has intensified since the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019, with the administration maintaining a zero-tolerance policy towards any government official found involved in activities prejudicial to national security. |