J&K police officer Davinder Singh, arrested by NIA in terror case, dismissed from service

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Jammu: Disgraced police officer Davinder Singh, who was arrested and chargesheeted by the NIA in a terror case, was on Thursday dismissed by the Jammu and Kashmir administration, an official order said.

Singh was arrested by the Jammu and Kashmir Police in January last year when he was ferrying terrorists of the banned Hizbul Mujahideen to Jammu from Kashmir. The case was investigated by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) who filed a chargesheet against Singh and others.

Lt Governor Manoj Sinha ordered Singh's dismissal from service with "immediate effect" under Article 311 of the Constitution. This provision enables the government to withdraw presidential pleasure without holding an inquiry and the decision can only be contested in the high court.

A notification issued by the General Department of the Jammu and Kashmir administration said "Accordingly, the Lieutenant Governor hereby dismisses Mr. Davinder Singh, Deputy Superintendent of Police (Under Suspension) ...From service, with immediate effect."

According to the NIA chargesheet filed before a special court in Jammu last year, Singh, who was posted in the sensitive anti-hijacking unit of the Jammu and Kashmir Police, had been in constant touch with his handlers in the Pakistan High Commission who have since been repatriated to Islamabad.

Singh, who has been accused by the NIA of providing support to banned terror group Hizbul Mujahideen, was tasked by his Pakistani handler with establishing a "contact" in the Ministry of External Affairs for carrying out espionage activities.

The 3,064-page chargesheet, filed under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and sections of the Indian Penal Code against Singh and five others, gave a graphic description of the police officer's involvement in providing shelter to the terrorists of the banned group.

The chargesheet said he had saved the number of his contact at the Pakistan High Commission as "Pak Bhai" (Pakistani brother). The contact had been giving him various tasks which included deployment of forces and arrival of "VIPs" in the Kashmir valley.

After having committed himself to Hizbul Mujahideen, Singh was asked by his Pakistani handler to establish a contact in the Ministry of 
External Affairs so that espionage activities could be carried out there.

However, Singh was unable to make any headway in the plan, the NIA officials said.

The chargesheet, filed in the first week of July last year, accused Singh and others of waging "war against India" with the help of Pakistan-based terrorists and members of the country's high commission in Delhi.

Besides Singh, others named in the chargesheet are self-styled commander of the Hizbul Mujahideen terror group Syed Naveed Mushtaq alias Naveed Babu, his brother Syed Irfan Ahmad as well as the group's alleged overground worker Irfan Shafi Mir, alleged accomplice Rafi Ahmad Rather and businessman Tanveer Ahmad Wani, a former president of the Line of Control Traders Association.

Singh was arrested on January 11 this year along with Naveed Babu, Rather and Mir, an advocate, when their car was intercepted by the Jammu and Kashmir Police near Qazigund on the national highway that connects the valley with the rest of the country.

A search of the vehicle led to the recovery of an AK-47 rifle, three pistols and a cache of ammunition and explosives. The NIA took over the case on January 17.

The investigation found that Singh, in an apparent bid to shield Naveed Babu, had shifted him along with the advocate to Jammu and arranged safe shelter for them in February last year.

Singh used his own vehicle for the movement of the Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists and also assured them help in procuring weapons, the NIA alleged.

Investigations show that the accused were obtaining weapons and ammunition from across the border with the help of arms smugglers and Singh. These weapons were later used for terrorist activities, it said.