After constituting a Special Task Force (STF) to identify and single out "terror friendly" employees working in different departments, the Jammu and Kashmir Government has decided to deny security clearance to "anti-national" elements involved in creating law and order problems.
This decision of the government would deny passport clearance as well as mandatory approval from the intelligence agencies to get a government job.
This decision is considered a big crackdown on elements directly or indirectly involved in terrorism and agitational terrorism.
CID Special Branch issues directions to all units
Reports said that CID Special Branch Kashmir has directed all units to deny security clearance to those involved in the law-and-order problem, stone-pelting, and other crimes prejudicial to the security of the state. All digital evidence and police records will be taken into consideration.
"All the field units of CID-SB-Kashmir are hereby directed to ensure that during verification related to passport, service, and any other verification related to government services/schemes, the subject's involvement in the law and order, stone-pelting cases, and other crimes prejudicial to the security of the state be specially looked into and same must be corroborated with local police station records," the order issued by SSP SB-K reads.
"Also, digital evidence like CCTV footage, photographs, video and audio clips quadcopter images available in the record of the police, security forces, and security agencies be also referred. Any subject found involved in any such cases must be denied the security clearance," the order added.
J&K government already amended civil services rules
The administration of the Union Territory has already amended the Jammu and Kashmir Civil Services (Verification of Character and Antecedents) Instructions, 1997 to ensure that no person can get a government job without a satisfactory CID report on his/her antecedents.
One will be required to also disclose whether any family member or close relative is associated with any political party or organization, or has participated in any political activity, or has had links with a foreign mission or organization, or any prescribed/ prohibited/ banned organization such as the Jamaat-e-Islami.
As per the fresh amendment, in case of in-service employees requiring re-verification from the CID, details of one's postings and promotions since the date of appointment would have to be furnished besides details of jobs of one's parents, spouse, children and stepchildren, parents-in-law, brothers-in-law, and sisters-in-law.
Within days after this amendment, the J&K Police had busted the 'intimidation factory' of white-collar terrorists by arresting five persons including the Secretary of the Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) and his two children. The senior officer of the SMC was allegedly misusing his official position to issue threats to social activists, politicians, bureaucrats, government officers, and journalists, on the direction of their mentors, sitting in Pakistan.
STF constituted to single-out 'terror friendly' employees
On April 21, the Jammu and Kashmir government had announced the formation of a Special Task Force (STF) to identify and scrutinize government employees with links to activities that pose threat to national security.
The SFT is headed by J&K's intelligence chief R.R. Swain, who served for a decade in the Research and Analysis Wing before returning to J&K. The panel has been assigned the job to compile records of such employees and refer the same to the committee already constituted in the month of July 2020 in this regard.
