33 years after Mirwaiz murder at his Srinagar home, two held

In a statement, police said: “The two had gone underground and during 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.” Addressing the media in Srinagar on Tuesday, Special Director General of Police (CID) R R Swain said the accused were arrested based on an input from the Special Investigation Agency of J&K Police.

The accused, he said, have been handed over to the CBI, which was investigating the case.

Swain identified the arrested duo as Javid Ahmad Bhat and Zahoor Ahmad Bhat. both residents of Srinagar. He said Zahoor had “pulled the trigger — he went inside the bedroom (of Mirwaiz)”.

After Mirwaiz’s killing, Swain said, a case was registered at Nageen police station in Srinagar. “The case was later transferred to CBI, which arrested one accused and presented a charge-sheet before the special designated TADA court,” Swain said. He said that the TADA court handed one of the accused a life sentence.

Swain said the probe found five people were involved in the murder. “Abdullah Bangroo was the commander of the group,” he said. “After investigation, one accused — Ayub Dar — was arrested.” He said Ayub appealed against his life sentence in the Supreme Court, which dismissed his appeal in July 2010.

While Bangroo, then the deputy chief commander of Hizbul Mujahideen, was killed in a gunfight with the security forces in Srinagar, Swain said another accused, Abdul Rehman Shigan, was killed in a subsequent encounter.
Javid Bhat and Zahoor Bhat went absconding.

In the statement, police said Bangroo, who was trained in Pakistan along with the other four accused, received instructions in April 1990 from his “ISI handler in Pakistan to eliminate Mirwaiz”.

Mirwaiz was the religious head of the Valley, who delivered the Friday sermons from Srinagar’s historic Jamia Masjid. After his murder, his son, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, then only 17 years old, was made the head priest. He later became the founding-chairman of separatist conglomerate Hurriyat Conference.