Prominent Ahel-e-Hadees cleric and former chief of Tehreek-ul-Mujahideen (TuM), Abdul Gani Dar, (78) of Russu Beerwah Budgam was reportedly found murdered in a mosque in Maisuma, Srinagar on Thursday. TuM is an Islamic terrorist organization operating in the valley which was banned by the Home Ministry last year in February.
#Kashmir: Prominent Ahel-e-Hadees cleric and former chief of Tehreekul Mujhideen Abdul Gani Dar (78) (whose codename as #Ameer was Abdullah Gazali) of Russu Beerwah Budgam found murdered in a mosque in Maisuma Srinagar. pic.twitter.com/NrJbMxNO8G
— Umaisar Gull (اُمیسر گُل) (@Umaisar_Gull) February 13, 2020
As per reports, Abdul Gani Dar was murdered by another Maulvi at the Mosque.
BIG BRK: Ahel-e Hadees maulvi Ab Gani Dar murdered by another maulvi in maisuma mosques in Srinagar today
— Rohan Dua (@rohanduaTOI) February 13, 2020
Reportedly, Abdul Gani Dar was hit with by the perpetrator in the first floor of the Mosque after he had completed his mid-day prayer. The Police were informed immediately about the murder and the body was sent for a postmortem. A case has been registered over the matter and investigations are currently underway.
Interestingly, the murdered person Abdul Gani Dar, alias Abdullah Gazali was allegedly involved in a 2011 murder of Maulana Showkat Ahmad Shah, the then president of the Jamiat Ahle Hadith. The Maulana was killed in an IED blast done with the help of a LeT terrorist, at a Mosque in Maisuma, Srinagar.
Though a person named Nissar Ahmad Khan was arrested for triggering the blast, the police had stated that it was Abdul Gani Dar alias Abdullah Gazali who had hatched the murder plan along with Ashiq Hussain Faktoo, a dreaded separatist leader in Srinagar jail who is also Asiya Andrabi’s husband.
Gazali was granted bail by a Srinagar court in 2015 after it held that the prosecution has failed to provide enough evidence of his involvement in the 2011 murder.