Ex-militant held for murder of Gani Dar inside mosque in Srinagar

Police on Friday arrested a former militant for allegedly killing an ex-Tehreek-ul-Mujahideen chief inside a mosque in the Maisuma area here, officials said. Ghulam Mohiuddin Dar, a resident of Dalgate, was arrested from the Karan Nagar area of the city, they said.

Abdul Gani Dar alias Abdullah Gazali, a former chief of militant outfit Tehreek-ul-Mujahideen (TuM), was found dead inside the Jamiat-e-Ahli Hadith mosque at Maisuma on Thursday. The officials said the investigators zeroed in on Mohiuddin based on CCTV footage and information gathered around the crime scene.

Mohiuddin, a former militant, allegedly killed Gazali inside the mosque, they said. Jamiat-e-Ahli Hadith chief Maulana Showkat Shah was killed in a blast outside the same mosque ahead of Friday prayers on April 8, 2011. Gazali, a resident of Beerwah in Budgam district, was a co-accused in the murder case and was currently on bail.