In September 2020, Qadri, a lawyer at Srinagar High Court and a vocal critic of the High Court Bar Association, was killed inside his house at Lalbazar in Srinagar.
The State Investigation Agency (SIA) arrested lawyer and former president of Jammu and Kashmir High Court Bar Association, Mian Abdul Qayoom, in Srinagar on Tuesday in connection with the murder of advocate Babar Qadri in 2020.
“He (Qayoom) has been arrested today morning. He was summoned to the SIA office at Humhama in Srinagar and detained there,” a police source said Tuesday. “The case pertains to Babar Qadri’s murder and further details can be revealed only after his questioning,” the source said.
In September 2020, Qadri, a lawyer at Srinagar High Court and a vocal critic of the High Court Bar Association, was killed inside his house at Lalbazar in Srinagar. Two unidentified men came to Qadri’s house posing as clients and wanting to discuss a case with him. As Qadri came out, the unidentified men shot him and ran away.
Police had registered a case at Lalbazar Police station for murder under section 302 of IPC, 7/27 of Arms Act and section 13, 16, 18, 20 and 39 of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).
A Special Investigation Team (SIT) had been formed to investigate the killing, and police said that The Resistance Front (TRF), believed to be a shadow group of Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), was behind the killing of Qadri. Police named a TRF militant, Saqib Manzoor, responsible for the killing. Manzoor was killed in a gunfight in 2021. Police also filed a charge sheet against five persons, including Manzoor in the case.
The case was later taken over by the State Investigation Agency, and in 2023, it announced a reward of Rs 10 lakh for any person providing information that leads to the killers of Qadri. In 2022, police raided the house of Qayoom and two other lawyers and conducted searches. Police had seized a digital device and some documents from their residences.
Qayoom, a senior advocate at the Srinagar High Court, was the president of the High Court Bar Association for several terms. As head of the Bar Association, he was previously detained by the police several times and booked under the Public Safety Act (PSA).
He is the father-in-law of sitting High Court judge Justice Javid Iqbal. However, Iqbal has in the past represented the state against Qayoom in a Habeas Corpus petition.
