The Kashmir Pulse

SRINAGAR — The administration of Jammu & Kashmir Union Territory has sacked four employees on charges of being involved in anti-national activities.

Unnamed sources, quoted by the news agency KNO, said that J&K Government has terminated four employees under Article 311 of the Constitution of India for their involvement in anti-national activities.

According to sources, the activities of these employees had come to the adverse notice of law enforcement and intelligence agencies, as they have been found involved in activities prejudicial to the interests of the security of the State.

Those sacked employees are Dr Muheet Ahmad Bhat (Scientist-D in Post-graduate Department of Computer Science, University of Kashmir), Majid Hussain Qadri, (Senior Assistant Professor, Department of Management Studies, University of Kashmir), Syed Abdul Mueed, (Manager IT, JKEDI) and Assabah-ul-Arjamand Khan, (Publicity, Directorate of Rural Development, Kashmir).

Syed Abdul Mueed is the son of United Jihad Council chief Syed Salahuddin while Assabah-Ul-Arjamand Khan is the wife of JKLF leader and former militant commander Farooq Ahmad Dar alias Bitta Karate. Assabah was a KAS officer.

SRINAGAR — A local court in Srinagar on Monday adjourned the hearing in the murder case of Satish Tikoo, who was allegedly killed by ex-militant Farooq Ahmad Dar alias Bitta Karate, on account of the absence of the petitioner and his lawyer.

Sources told news agency Kashmir Dot Com that the hearing in the murder case of Satish Tikoo has been adjourned till June 7 as the petitioner and his counsel remained absent.

Advocate Utsav Bains, who is appearing for the petitioner, has decided to move to the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh for seeking the transfer of the case by citing ‘security’ reasons, they said.

It is pertinent to mention that the hearing in the case was adjourned earlier also after Bains claimed of not being provided security by the Jammu and Kashmir Police despite an order from the Supreme Court of India.

The trial proceedings against Bitta Karate had begun nearly after 31 years following a plea filed by the family of Satish Tickoo.

The application in the case was filed by Advocate Utsav Bains on behalf of the family of Tickoo in Srinagar Sessions Court for status reports of all the FIRs registered against Bitta Karate, who has already been bailed out by the Supreme Court of India.

SRINAGAR — Srinagar Sessions Court on Tuesday adjourned the hearing of former militant Bitta Karate, after the lawyer appearing for the petitioner claimed that Jammu and Kashmir Police didn’t provide him security despite Supreme Court order.

Pertinently, the trial proceedings against the former Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front Commander had begun nearly after 31 years following a plea filed by the Pandit family of Satish Tickoo.

Advocate Utsav Bains had filed the application on behalf of the family of Satish Kumar Tickoo in Srinagar Sessions Court for status reports of all the FIRs registered against Farooq Ahmed Dar alias Bitta Karate, who has already been bailed out by the Supreme Court of India.

The case was supposed to be heard today in the court of First Additional Sessions Judge, Srinagar. However, Advocate Utsav Bains sought adjournment for Criminal Revision No. 138 of 2022, citing security reasons.

In a letter to First Additional Sessions Judge, Srinagar, a copy of which lies with the news agency Kashmir News Trust, Advocate Utsav Bains claimed that he left back for Delhi from Srinagar Airport after he was not provided security.

The letter reads that as no security was provided to Advocate Utsav Bains by Jammu & Kashmir Police today in spite of orders by the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India, the learned advocate has to, unfortunately, return back to Delhi after landing at the Srinagar Airport today at 9 AM.

“It is requested to your lordship to please adjourn today’s hearing in Criminal Revision No. 138 of 2022 in the interest of justice,” concludes the letter.

Pertinently, on July 24, 2017, the Supreme Court of India had dismissed a plea filed by the Kashmiri Pandit NGO ‘Roots in Kashmir’, saying it is difficult to hold any probe and collect evidence on incidents that are more than 27 years old after the migration of Kashmiri Pandits from Valley.

SRINAGAR — The trial against Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) leader Farooq Ahmed Dar started at Srinagar's Sessions Court.

Farooq Ahmed Dar alias Bitta Karate is accused of killing over a dozen Kashmiri Pandits during the hey-days of militancy in Kashmir valley.

Bitta Karate spent 16 years in jail and was released on bail in 2006. The order for his release came from the Supreme Court of India. The court released Karate on bail under the Public Safety Act (PSA).

He was arrested in 2019 for his alleged role in militant funding and has been in jail ever since.

The family of a slain Pandit, Satish Tickoo, moved to the Srinagar Sessions Court through Advocate Utsav Bains. The Sessions Court attended the case, seeking all the details pertaining to the case from the government.

The Counsel for the Tickoo’s family, as per the news agency Kashmir News Trust, said that a physical hearing took place in Srinagar Sessions Court and the court sought details from the government.

He said the Supreme Court while releasing the Bitta Karate had maintained that the prosecution failed to show an interest in the case and didn’t come up with the proper pieces of evidence.

Pertinently, when in custody, Bitta Karate in an interaction with a journalist had admitted that he killed some Kashmiri Pandits.