J&K Police Attach Property of Former Bar Association Chief Mian Qayoom
Qayoom also faces charges of murder as an act of terrorism in the 2020 killing of fellow lawyer Babar Qadri
SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Police (DGP) Nalin Prabhat has ordered the attachment of the residential property of Mian Abdul Qayoom, a former president of J&K High Court Bar Association (JKHCBA)’s Valley chapter in Srinagar in connection with a 2009 case involving an anti-India seminar allegedly addressed by several separatist leaders.
According to the DGP's order, on December 31, 2009, Shaheed Gunj Police Station received information about a seminar at Hotel Jahangir in Srinagar marking the death anniversary of Muhammad Ali Jinnah. Organised by Feroz Ahmad Khan of the Muslim League, the event was attended by separatist figures including Aasia Andrabi, Shabir Ahmad Najar, and Mian Abdul Qayoom, who allegedly delivered anti-India speeches and raised slogans.
Police investigations, including witness statements, concluded that participants made inflammatory remarks, provoked the audience, and advocated the secession of J&K. A subsequent search of Qayoom's residence, conducted under a magistrate's warrant with independent witnesses and an Executive Magistrate present, recovered banned literature, a Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM) letterhead with seal impression, a press-note-type document, a letter from Syed Salahuddin to then-US President Bill Clinton, and another HM seal impression in Urdu.
Officials stated that Qayoom allegedly used his two-storey house and adjoining land measuring over two kanals at Bulbul Bagh, Barzulla to conceal incriminating material and support unlawful activities. The property, registered under mutation number 338 in Qayoom's name, has been classified as “proceeds of terrorism” and attached under relevant legal provisions.
Qayoom also faces charges of murder as an act of terrorism in the 2020 killing of fellow lawyer Babar Qadri. In December last year, the J&K State Investigation Agency (SIA) filed a 340-page supplementary chargesheet against him at a special NIA court in Jammu. It alleged that a Special Investigation Team (SIT) uncovered Qayoom’s “inimical relation” with Qadri, claiming he orchestrated the elimination through terrorists of The Resistance Front (TRF) an offshoot of the proscribed Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and their Pakistan-based handlers via a criminal conspiracy.
Qadri, a 35-year-old lawyer who gained prominence through frequent appearances in TV debates on Kashmir, was shot dead by unknown gunmen at his Hawal residence in Srinagar on September 24, 2020. Prior to his death, he had launched the All JK People’s Justice Party and named himself president, leading to his suspension from the JKHBA for “indiscipline.”
A vocal critic of the JKHBA leadership particularly Qayoom Qadri had expressed safety concerns days before his murder. In a Facebook video, he accused Qayoom of stifling dissent and turning the association into a mouthpiece for the Syed Ali Shah Geelani-led Hurriyat Conference faction.
Qayoom, 81, served as JKHBA president for 20 terms between 1986 and 2019. Known for his close ties to Islamist and pro-Pakistan separatist leader Geelani (who died on September 1, 2021, at age 91), Qayoom survived a shooting attack at his Srinagar home on April 22, 1995. He was detained multiple times, including after the Centre revoked J&K's special status and bifurcated it into two Union Territories in August 2019. He is frequently accused of anti-India activities and supporting separatism. The SIA claims the Geelani-led Hurriyat sought control over the JKHBA through Qayoom.
The SIA arrested Qayoom on June 25, 2024, citing substantial evidence as the principal conspirator. A case was registered in 2020 under Section 302 IPC, Sections 7/27 of the Arms Act, and Sections 13, 16, 18, 20, and 39 of the UAPA. An SIT under IGP Kashmir and headed by SP Hazratbal initially investigated, filing a chargesheet against six accused on May 6, 2021, in the Special NIA Court, Srinagar. Further investigation under Section 173(8) CrPC was conducted by SDPO Zadibal before PHQ J&K transferred it to SIA on July 20, 2023. A new SIT, tasked with uncovering the larger conspiracy, relied on oral, documentary, and technical evidence to implicate Qayoom.