Drive to root-out terrorists from Govt machinery
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Apr 8: As part of his “zero-tolerance terror policy”, Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha today terminated services of two Government employees for their links with terror outfits including Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) and Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT).
Follow the Daily Excelsior channel on WhatsApp
“The dismissals are part of ongoing drive to root out terrorists embedded in the Government machinery. The move underscores LG’s iron-fisted offensive to purge the state apparatus of covertly infiltrated terrorist elements,” sources told the Excelsior.
Click here to watch video
Sinha had recently observed that he will not rest until “the last thread of the terror cancer is torn from the body of Government machinery”. He had also vowed that security agencies would “completely, decisively and permanently end the scourge of terrorism”.
The dismissals were carried out under Article 311(2)(c) of the Constitution, the officials said, adding formal orders of dismissals of both the employees were issued by the General Administration Department (GAD).
Those terminated from the services include Farhat Ali Khanday, a Class-IV employee (MTS) in Education Department son of Abdul Ali Khanday R/o Tethat, Hergam in Banihal tehsil of Ramban district and Mohammad Shafi Dar, Class-IV (Plantation Watcher) in Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Department, son of Mohammad Sultan Dar, a resident of Banyari Sharki in Hajin area of Bandipora district.
Significantly, Farhat Ali Khanday despite working in Education Department and drawing salary from the Government exchequer, in fact, operated for the terror outfit Hizb-ul-Mujahideen and used his position as a cover to revive terrorism and build a larger terrorist network in Ramban and surrounding areas, the sources said.
“Khanday first came under the watch of security and intelligence agencies in 2011, when a hawala network tasked with distributing money to families of killed terrorists was exposed. Later, fresh inputs revealed that terror funds were being channelled to revive and sustain Hizb-ul-Mujahideen terrorist network in Jammu division,” the sources said.
Asserting that the officials didn’t know that Khanday was working for Hizb-ul-Mujahideen until April 2011 when his name figured during interrogation of a terrorist, affiliated with the HM outfit, who was nabbed by the police for distributing terror money to seven terrorist families.
Police picked up Khanday and he was put behind the bars but later in October 2011 he got bail and continued his terror activities, the sources said.
Quoting investigators, the sources said Farhat had shown no remorse or change of mind even after his arrest and subsequent bail. However, his activities were monitored and a charge sheet was filed against him in a special court in 2022.
“It was learnt that Farhat was making contacts with local networks for furthering terrorist activities and strengthening the cadres of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen. Detailed investigation in his case and huge inputs gathered by the agencies revealed that Farhat continued to act as a facilitator and conduit of terrorists,” the sources said.
Asserting that the presence of a terrorist within an educational environment is a matter of grave concern, sources further said that Khanday was part of the Government machinery, an institution tasked with serving the public and responsibly using taxpayers’ money. “While drawing salary from the Government exchequer, he was in fact working for terrorists- an inconceivable betrayal in any civilized society”.
Meanwhile, Mohammad Shafi Dar from Bandipora, who was also sacked by the Lieutenant Governor, had joined the Rural Development Department on compassionate grounds following the death of his father, who was working as a Plantation Watcher in the same department.
Asserting that Mohammad Shafi Dar was working as a terror associate of LeT and providing logistical and operational support to the terrorists operating in Bandipora, the sources said he was tasked by Pakistan-based terror outfit to provide safe houses to terrorists, facilitate their movement and transportation, sharing sensitive information related to movement and deployment of police and security forces and raising network of Over Ground Workers (OGW) in the area.
In April 2025, Shafi and one of his terror associates Rayees Ahmad Dar were apprehended during a routine check at a joint Naka. One AK-56 rifle, grenade and other ammunitions were recovered from him.
“Shafi had evolved from a mere facilitator into an active operational terror associate, and that his network was plotting an attack on security forces. Appointed on compassionate grounds after his father fell in Government service, Shafi repaid that mercy with treachery. 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 sources said.
They pointed out that Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha has already shown he means business as more than 90 Government employees with terror links have been sacked. Sinha has made an iron-clad promise to the people of J&K UT: every terrorist will be hunted down and eliminated, without exception and without mercy.
Follow our WhatsApp channel
