Kashmiri Pandit Threat Case Takes Dramatic Turn, Community Activist Held in Haryana

SRINAGAR: In a startling development that has upended months of speculation and anxiety among Kashmiri Pandit employees in the Valley, the source of a series of threatening communications that triggered a major security scare appears, according to investigators, to have emerged not from across the border or an established militant network, but from within the community itself.

The Jammu and Kashmir Police have arrested Rakesh Handoo, a Kashmiri Pandit activist based in Haryana, alleging his involvement in the circulation of terror-linked threats that rattled thousands of employees appointed under the Prime Minister's Special Employment and Rehabilitation Package.

Handoo was arrested from Greater Faridabad in Haryana by a police team from the Valley’s Baramulla district and has been booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), along with cyber-terror related provisions. Investigators say they have gathered what they describe as “substantial and serious clues” linking him to the controversial threat campaign that spread panic among migrant Kashmiri Pandit employees during August and September.

The arrest marks a dramatic twist in a case that had deepened fears across the Valley after online threat posters surfaced carrying an unprecedented level of personal detail about Kashmiri Pandit government employees. The communications, purportedly issued by a little-known outfit calling itself the United Liberation Council (ULC), named employees individually and disclosed sensitive information, including residential addresses, mobile phone numbers, vehicle registration details and official affiliations. The threatening messages warned employees that they were under surveillance and portrayed them as targets because of their association with the Prime Minister's rehabilitation package.

The impact was immediate. Hundreds of Kashmiri Pandit employees working in government departments across the Valley were advised to remain away from their workplaces amid heightened security concerns. Many were effectively placed on administrative leave for nearly three weeks as authorities assessed the threat environment. Security around transit accommodations, government offices and vulnerable residential clusters was strengthened, while the circulation of confidential employee information raised disturbing questions about possible data leaks and security breaches.

The employees targeted by the threats belong to the Prime Minister's Special Employment and Rehabilitation Package, launched in 2010 to facilitate the return and reintegration of displaced Kashmiri Pandits. The programme has provided government employment to approximately 6,000 members of the community who were forced to flee the Valley following the outbreak of militancy in 1990.

The controversy unfolded against a backdrop of growing insecurity. In the months preceding the issuance of these threats, militant violence had shown signs of resurgence, including attacks on security personnel and migrant workers. The killing of India Reserve Police head constable Ashiq Hussain Qureshi in Anantnag and the fatal shooting of two migrant labourers in Kulgam reignited fears among minority communities. Security agencies responded with an extensive crackdown, detaining more than 3,000 suspects identified as Over Ground Workers (OGWs), a term used for individuals believed to be providing logistical or covert support to militant organisations.

For Kashmiri Pandit employees, the fresh threats reopened wounds that had never fully healed. Memories of 2022, when targeted killings claimed the lives of five Kashmiri Pandits and triggered months-long protests, quickly resurfaced. At that time, employees demanded relocation to Jammu, arguing that they remained vulnerable in the Valley. While the government refused to transfer them outside Kashmir, many were shifted to comparatively safer locations in Srinagar and other major urban centres.

The atmosphere was already tense when employees again took to the streets in Srinagar this year, demanding the allotment of long-promised transit accommodation. At demonstrations held at the Press Enclave, participants complained that despite years of promises and the construction of thousands of transit flats, many continued to live in rented accommodation and insecure neighbourhoods. Community organisations warned that delays in housing allotment, combined with renewed threats, were eroding confidence in the government's rehabilitation effort.

Community groups reacted sharply to the circulation of the threat posters. The Kashmiri Pandit Sangharsh Samiti (KPSS) described the publication of confidential personal information as a "chilling vulnerability" and warned that the administration must identify how such data reached hostile hands. Panun Kashmir and other organisations demanded a comprehensive threat assessment and stronger protection measures for employees and their families.

Against this charged backdrop, the arrest of Handoo has altered the narrative surrounding the case. According to police documents, an FIR was registered on September 21, and Handoo was summoned to appear before investigators in Baramulla on September 26. Sources said he did not respond to repeated summonses, prompting authorities to launch further legal action. He was eventually taken into custody on October 17 from Haryana and informed that he was being arrested in connection with a non-bailable offence.

Handoo is not an obscure figure within sections of the Kashmiri Pandit community. A long-time activist, he had unsuccessfully contested the 2008 J&K Assembly elections from Srinagar's Hazratbal constituency against National Conference president and former chief minister Farooq Abdullah.

The police have not yet publicly disclosed the full extent of the evidence gathered against him, and the case remains under investigation.