Government fires 103 firemen out of job in Fire and Emergency Services Department

STC NEWS DESK
SRINAGAR, DECEMBER 15 (STC): Based on two-stage investigation pointing to serious procedural and criminal violations, the Jammu and Kashmir government today terminated 103 personnel from the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The inquiry concluded that their selection in the 2020 recruitment drive was vitiated by fraud and manipulation.
“The decision was taken after a two-stage examination of the recruitment process — first through a departmental enquiry and later through a criminal investigation conducted by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB).
Both processes,” the government order said, pointed to serious procedural and criminal violations.
Giving details of the process of investigation, the government said that the enquiry committee, set up in December 2022, was tasked with examining complaints related to the selection of firemen and fireman drivers. During its scrutiny, the panel found irregularities including leakage of examination papers, interference with evaluation, and manipulation of records.
On the basis of these findings, the committee advised initiation of a criminal probe.
The ACB subsequently registered a case in January 2025 and carried out a technical and documentary investigation.
According to official findings, investigators detected tampering of OMR sheets, alteration of scanned answer scripts, changes in digital data and manipulation of merit lists. The probe concluded that 106 candidates had benefited from the compromised process by being awarded inflated marks.
The appointments were found result of a planned conspiracy and could not be protected under service rules or constitutional safeguards. It clarified that protections available to government employees do not apply where appointments themselves are unlawful.
Notably, three appointees had already been removed earlier for failing to complete mandatory joining requirements.
(Straight Talk Communications)