Early Times: Leading Newspaper Jammu Kashmir, Latest News about Jammu & Kashmir

NEW DETAILS

Appointed on compassionate grounds, Shafi Dar repaid State with betrayal by joining LeT module

Early Times Report

Jammu, Apr 7: One of the two Jammu and Kashmir government employees dismissed for alleged links with a proscribed terrorist organisation had been appointed on compassionate grounds following the death of his father — a fact that has drawn sharp attention to what officials are calling a brazen act of betrayal.
Mohammad Shafi Dar, a resident of Banyari, Shakri, Hajin in Bandipora district, is one of two government employees sacked by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Wednesday over their alleged associations with terrorist outfits operating in the Valley.
Dar had been granted employment by the J&K government under the compassionate appointment scheme after his father, Mohammad Sultan Dar — who served as a plantation watcher in the Rural Development Department and Panchayati Raj — died in government service. The appointment was intended to provide the family a source of livelihood.
However, investigations subsequently revealed that instead of fulfilling his duties, Dar had allegedly been working as a terror associate of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and providing logistical and operational support to its cadres active in the Bandipora region.
According to sources, Dar was reportedly tasked by the Pakistan-based outfit to provide safe houses to terrorists, facilitate their movement and transportation, relay sensitive information regarding the deployment and movement of police and security forces, and expand LeT’s Over Ground Worker (OGW) network in the area.
The accused was apprehended in April 2025, when he and his alleged associate, Rayees Ahmad Dar, were intercepted during a routine check at a joint Naka. Security personnel recovered one AK-56 rifle, a grenade and other ammunition from his possession, sources said.
Investigators further established that Dar had evolved well beyond a logistical facilitator into an active operational terror associate, and that his network was reportedly plotting an attack on security forces.
Officials have described the case in stark terms. “Appointed on compassionate grounds after his father fell in government service, Shafi repaid that mercy with treachery,” a source said. “His descent into terrorism is not merely a crime — it is a cold-blooded betrayal of the very state that sheltered him and sustained his family.”
The dismissals are part of an ongoing effort by the J&K administration to purge government services of individuals found to have links with militant organisations.