In a handout to GNS, a spokesman for SIA said that briefly stated, Babar Qadri had just returned back home after attending Court on the fateful day that three terrorists visited his house at about 6.30 PM and asked the domestic help for a meeting with him on the pretext of discussing some case. While one of the terrorists waited outside the main gate to keep an eye on the happenings around, the remaining two who were also carrying a dummy case file were made to sit on the chairs placed in the verandah. Soon Babar Qadri came out of the house to meet them and was fired upon minutes later. The terrorists after committing the act fled away from the spot. The badly injured Babar Qadri was shifted to SKIMS Soura, Srinagar but succumbed to his injuries enroute.
Consequent thereupon, Case FIR No.62/2020 U/S 302 IPC 7/27 I A Act 13/16/18/20/39 UAPA was registered at PS Lalbazar Srinagar and investigation was taken up by an SIT framed by IGP Kashmir to be headed by SP Hazratbal. The SIT conducted the investigation and presented the chargesheet against six accused persons on 06.05.2021 before the Special NIA Court, Srinagar, he said.
Thereafter, further investigation in the case U/S 173 (8) CrPC was started on 06.08.2021 by SDPO Zadibal. However on 20.07.2023, PHQ J&K transferred the further investigation of the case from District Police Srinagar to SIA J&K following which the Directorate of SIA J&K framed an SIT which was specifically tasked to unravel the larger conspiracy behind the killing, he said.
The SIT took over the investigation and on the basis of sufficient oral, documentary and technical evidence arrested Mian Qayoom on 25.06.2024 as the principal conspirator behind the deceased’s killing. It was revealed during the in-depth investigation conducted by SIA SIT that Mian Qayoom, who had an inimical relation with the deceased, got Babar Qadri eliminated through terrorists of TRF and their handlers in Pakistan by hatching a criminal conspiracy. TRF is a proxy outfit for the dreaded LeT formed in the aftermath of 5th of August 2019, he said.
Babar Qadri was a very vocal young lawyer who not only questioned Mian Qayoom’s one upmanship at HCBA Kashmir but severely criticized him on multiple occasions for using HCBA Kashmir as a platform for furthering his secessionist agenda. The deceased had also founded a dissident body within the HCBA called Kashmir Lawyers Club which was attracting a sizable number of Young lawyers. Moreover, the deceased was also contemplating to fight the Bar elections against Mian Qayoom which were due to be held around the same time. All this antagonized Mian Qayoom who on several occasions also threatened the deceased.
Although Babar Qadri was very active on social and electronic media which he also used to criticize Mian Qayoom, he had a premonition on the fateful day itself. Interestingly he went live on Facebook on 24.09.2020 afternoon, and while denouncing Mian Qayoom for his policies, also expressed his fears of being eliminated at the hands of Mian Qayoom and his coterie. Ironically, few hours later he was killed in cold blood at his own residence.
Mian Qayoom has a history of being a terrorist sympathizer and diehard secessionist. Several cases already stand registered against him for his anti-national activities. He had earned notoriety for treating HCBA Kashmir as his fiefdom and virtually converting it into a constituent of all party Hurriyat Conference (APHC). During the major unrests post 2008 in Kashmir valley, he was at the forefront of anti-India demonstrations and his calls for shutdowns coincided with the hartal calendars issued by APHC. He was very close to late Syed Ali Shah Geelani whom he regarded as his political guru. He had also declared in open court during High Court proceedings that he neither considered himself as the citizen of India nor believed in the Indian constitution.
The SIA SIT today presented a 340 page long supplementary chargesheet against Mian Qayoom for offences U/S 302/120-B/109 IPC 13/18/18-B/38/39 UAPA. Further investigation in the case U/S 173 (8) shall continue.
The initial chargesheet in the case had been filed before the Special NIA Court Srinagar, however, in December 2023 the High Court had transferred the trial to Jammu taking a serious view of the interference in judicial process by Mian Qayoom as well as threat/ intimidation to the deceased’s family. Mian Qayoom is since then lodged in District Jail Amphalla, Jammu, reads the statement.(GNS)
