Jammu and Kashmir Police on Tuesday said that they have arrested two persons involved in the assassination of the late Mirwaiz Moulvi Muhammad Farooq. The police described it as a major achievement.
Mirwaiz Moulvi Mohammad Farooq was killed at this Nigeen residence on May 21, 1990.
Addressing a press conference at the police control room in Srinagar, Special Director General of Police (CID) RR Swain said that a case regarding the assassination of Mirwaiz Muhammad Farooq was lodged at the Nigeen Police Station on on May 21, 1990.
“He was killed on May 21, 1990 at the hands of terrorists of Hizbul Mujahideen. The case was registered at Nageen Police Station in Srinagar,” Swain said.
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Swain said the case was later transferred from the Nigeen Police Station to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
“After investigation, the CBI was able to get punishment for one accused Ayub Dar in the Court of the Special Designated Judge TADA Delhi. Ayub Dar was convicted by the court. The court sentenced to him for life,” Swain said.
Swain said it came to the fore during the investigation that five persons were involved in the case.
He said, “Abdullah Bangroo was their commander. But during the trial, only one person, Ayub Dar, was arrested in the case and his trial went up to 2009. The trial of the case took 10 years.
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“The main accused, Abdullah Bangroo, was killed in an encounter while he was on the run. Another accused, Rehman Shigan, was also killed in the encounter. Two others, Javaid Bhat alias Ajmal Khan and Zahoor Bhat, were also on the run. The long arms of the law finally caught them. They were absconders and they have been caught. These people will be brought to justice.”
In a statement, the police claimed both Javaid Ahmad Bhat and Zahoor Ahmad Bhat were absconding since 21 May 1990. The statement also said that the two had gone abroad to hide.
The statement said, “The two had gone underground and during all these years were variously hiding in Nepal and Pakistan among other places before surreptitiously returning back to Kashmir a few years ago. Maintaining a low profile, changing addresses, and shifting residences, they avoided the gaze of law enforcement agencies.”
Mirwaiz Farooq, the head priest of Kashmir, was killed by Hizbul Mujahideen militants on on May 21 1990, who accused him of being a ‘peacenik’ and an ‘Indian agent’, said police.
Ayub Dar had appealed against his conviction. The Supreme Court, however, upheld the conviction in 2010.
The police said before killing Mirwaiz, all five militants had gone to Pakistan for training in 1990.
“Back in Srinagar, Abdullah Bangroo received instructions in April 1990 from his ISI handler in Pakistan to eliminate Mirwaiz,” the police said.
