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ISI has penetrated JK administration

Tara Shankar Sahay in New Delhi

The Union government is launching a multi-pronged operation to weed out Inter-Services Intelligence agents who have penetrated the Jammu and Kashmir administration, home ministry officials told rediff.com.

They said the Central government had reasons to believe that some key personnel in the state government were passing on vital information to "enemy agents including Pakistan's ISI for subversive purposes."

However, the officials pointed out, Chief Minister Dr Farooq Abdullah was "aware" of the gravity of the situation and was extending full co-operation to the Centre in "deactivating" the agents.

The first step of the operation is to identify the suspects. This is being done by monitoring their telephone, fax, e-mail etc. Once the suspicions are confirmed, the suspect's official functioning would be severely curtailed. For instance, he would not be given any important files. The third stage entails either transferring the suspect to an "innocuous" state department or sending him on deputation out of the state.

The officials said the recent attacks on the army camps came as the troop strength in the valley has been depleted owing to the Kargil conflict.

Meanwhile, security has been beefed up for Independence Day celebrations in Srinagar on August 15.

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