SRINAGAR: About 33 years after the assassination of separatist leader and top cleric Mirwaiz Mohammad Farooq by the Hizbul Mujahideen, the J&K police in a major breakthrough arrested two of the accused who were on the run so far.
One of them, Zahoor Ahmad Bhat a.k.a Bilal, had sprayed bullets on the Mirwaiz, which led to his death, said Rashmi Ranjan Swain, Special Director General of Police CID. The other arrested accused is Javed Bhat a.k.a. Afzal Khan.
Mirwaiz was gunned down by terrorists at his residence in Srinagar on May 21, 1990. Later, dozens of people were killed and 100 injured after security men fired on his funeral procession in Srinagar.
“Five Hizb militants, who had all gone to Pakistan for arms training, were involved in the killing. The group was led by then Hizb commander Abdullah Bangroo,” said Swain. One of the accused, Ayoub Dar, is serving time after being awarded a lifer by a Special TADA court in 2009. Of the remaining accused, Abdullah Bangroo and Rehman Shigan were killed in separate encounters.