Srinagar:Prominent Ahel-e-Hadees cleric and former chief of Tehreek-ul-Mujahideen (TuM), Abdul Gani Dar, (80) of Russu Beerwah Budgam was reportedly found murdered in a mosque in Maisuma, Gaw Kadal of Srinagar on Thursday. Dar was the chief of militant outfit Tehreek-ul-Mujahideen (TuM) in the 1990s.

As per reports, Abdul Gani Dar was murdered by another Maulvi at the Mosque.

Reportedly, Abdul Gani Dar was hit with by the perpetrator in the first floor of the Central Mosque of Jamiat Ahle-Hadith at Gaw Kadal, Maisuma 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.

A police spokesman said information about a murder of a person inside a mosque in the Maisuma area was received in the afternoon.

“Accordingly, senior police officers visited the crime spot and retrieved the body of an individual.

“The killed person was identified as Abdul Gani Dar alias Gani Gazali, aged about 80 years,” the spokesman said.

The police officials said there were injury marks on the head of Dar.

Police reached the spot and are scanning the CCTV footage around the mosque to ascertain if Dar was murdered, they said.

The spokesman said photography and video recording of the crime spot was carried out and an Forensic Scientific Lab (FSL) team was called for the examination of the scene of the crime.

Dead body of the victim was taken to hospital for conducting of medico legal formalities and will be handed over to the family members after completion of medico legal formalities.

Police have registered a case in this regard. Further investigation in the matter is in progress.

We assure community members that investigation in the matter will be fast tracked in a professional and impartial manner.

Interestingly, the murdered person Abdul Gani Dar, alias Abdullah Gazali was allegedly involved in a 2011 murder of Moulana 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, at a Jamiat Ahle Hadith Mosque in Maisuma,Gaw Kadal of Srinagar.

Though a person named Nissar Ahmad Khan was arrested for triggering the blast, the police had stated that it

Abdul Gani Dar alias Abdullah Gazali who had hatched the murder plan along with Ashiq Hussain Faktoo a 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.