SRINAGAR: The Kashmir government Friday dismissed from service five senior officers with immediate effect in the “interest of the security of the state”, according to official sources.

Four are from the Kashmir administrative service and the other is of the rank of chief engineer.

Those dismissed are Muzzaffar Ahmed Khan, Naeem Akhter, Abdul Salam Bhat, Abdul Hamid Mattoo, A R Mubarki, general manager, Jammu and Kashmir bank. The five were members of the Coordination committee of the state government employees, which spearheaded the three day strike in July and five day strike early this month against excesses by security forces,

Over the week over 40 people were killed while the Srinagar and major towns observed hartal for the second day to protest the Kamgan incident, in which 30 militants were killed on Tuesday.

All transport went off the roads in response to the road blockade. Shops and business establishments remained closed following a strike called by a militant organization Hizbul Mujahideen. The right wing students body Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad’s (ABVP) also called call for a strike to protest against the stoppage of the ABVP march to Srinagar.

The special J and K tribunal issued notices to six outlawed organizations to show cause as to why the state government notifications issued on April 16, declaring them as unlawful, should not be confirmed by the tribunal.

The organizations, the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) and the Jammat E Islami (JEI) have been asked by the tribunal to submit their reply in 14 days.

The other four organizations are the Islamic Students League, the Islamic Jamat E Tulba, the MahazIAzadi, and the people’s league.

Security forces recovered, for the first time, two Ak47 rifles and several rounds of ammunition from a place of worship in Srinagar city, it was officially stated.

Yet another branch of Jammu and Kashmir Bank was looted by four armed men who managed to decamp with more than Rs 1, 63,000 from the branch in Shangus, an official spokesman said.

Unofficial reports from Srinagar said the acting commander in chief of the JKLF Javed Ahmed Mir threatened to extend the activities of the group to other parts of the country to “avenge the killings of the Kangan incident” on Tuesday morning which 21 subversives claimed to have been killed.

The body of Abdul Gaffwe Kawa, who had jumped into river Jhelum after being shot by security forces on September 7 in Bagyari Bala locality of Srinagar was recovered by security forces in Sumbal.

Another militant, Hilal Ahmed Khan was killed in an encounter with security forces in Maccho village in Budgam district late Wednesday night.

Three bodies, only one of them identified so far were recovered from two localities of Srinagar and Machail in North Kashmir,

Shops and business establishments remained closed and traffic was disrupted in Udhampur in Jammu after authorities took into custody about 6,000 activists of the Akhil Bharitya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) who were marching to Kashmir, were militants are waging battle of secession.

The ABVP activists were taken into custody for violating prohibitory orders.

Article extracted from this publication >> September 21, 1990