'Terror factory' red-flagged: 3 Jammu and Kashmir teachers held under PSA, school faces terror scan

Three teachers of a CBSE-affiliated school in south Kashmir's Shopian that has allegedly produced 13 terrorists, including a teenager involved in the Pulwama attack, were arrested on Monday and booked under the Public Safety Act (PSA) for "indoctrinating and inducing their students to wage war against the state". IGP (Kashmir range) Vijay Kumar said the Jamia Sirajul Uloom Secondary School, a well-known institution that retained its seminary roots even as it transitioned to formal education, had been under the scanner for some time because of its alleged association with the banned Jamiat-e-Islami. Sajjad Bhat, the terrorist whose car was used in the February 2019 Pulwama suicide attack that killed 40 CRPF personnel, had studied in this school before he went missing. The 17-year-old was killed in an encounter a few months later. The three teachers accused of trying to turn the school into a terror factory have been identified as Abdul Ahad Bhat, Rouf Bhat and Mohammad Yusuf Wani. Besides the PSA, they have been slapped with cases under Section 107 of the CrPC, which deals with breach of peace. "Five to six other teachers of the school are under surveillance for their conduct," the IGP said. "Right now, we are taking action against individuals, but if the need arises, we will also initiate steps against the school."