BREAKING: Mian Qayoom Arrested in Babar Qadri Murder Case

New Delhi: Mian Qayoom, former president of Jammu and Kashmir High Court Bar Association, was arrested on Tuesday, June 25, for an alleged conspiracy in murder of advocate in 2020. The security forces claimed that Qayoom was the main conspirator in the Babr Qadri murder case. He is being further questioned and more details are expected to surface as the investigation progresses, said the security forces. 

Qayoom is the father-in-law of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court judge Javed Iqbal Wani. In August 2022, Jammu and Kashmir Police had carried out searches at the residences of Qayoom and two other lawyers in Srinagar, and had seized digital devices, bank statements as part of the probe. 

"Former Kashmir Bar Association president advocate Mian Qayoom has been arrested in connection with Qadri's killing. During the investigation of the case, it came to the fore that Qayoom was the main conspirator in the case and was behind Qadri's killing," an official, as quoted by PTI. 

All About Babar Qadri Murder Case 

Babar Qadri, who was also a TV news channel panellist, was shot dead at his residence in the city's Hawal area in September 2020. Police had formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe Qadri's murder. 

The case was later handed over to the Jammu and Kashmir State Investigation Agency (SIA). In September last year, the SIA announced a cash reward of Rs 10 lakh for information about Qadri's killers.

Qadri was a vocal critic of the bar association leadership, particularly of Qayoom, and had claimed a threat to his life three days before he was killed. Police had also said Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) commander Saqib Manzoor, who was killed in an encounter in August 2021, was responsible for Qadri's murder. 

(With agency inputs)