Srinagar, Sept. 11, KDC: A local court in Srinagar on Friday declined to extend the interim bail of Amsterdam based political analyst Junaid Qureshi and ordered him taken into custody in an attempt to murder case involving his aged father, former militant Mohammad Hashim Qureshi.
Second Additional Sessions Judge Naushad Ahmad Khan passed the order after examining the case diary, hospital records showing the senior Qureshi in critical condition, and surveillance footage of the incident. The proceedings arise from First Information Report 83 of 2026 registered at Nishat Police Station under Section 109 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which deals with attempt to murder.
The court noted that the medical condition of Mohammad Hashim Qureshi, who sustained a deep, lacerated head injury after being pushed from the staircase at his Gupt Ganga residence in Nishat, had deteriorated sharply.
Examining electronic records produced by the police, the judge said that upon a prima facie viewing, the footage “appears to depict the applicant pushing the victim, whereafter the victim falls down the stairs and sustains an injury to his head,” providing direct corroboration to the prosecution claim.
Addressing the defence plea that bail is the rule and jail the exception, the judge said the principle “cannot be understood as a mechanical formula which operates irrespective of the factual circumstances of an individual case”. The judge also noted that the accused had suppressed his criminal antecedents, saying that an applicant seeking discretionary relief cannot claim benefit upon an “incomplete or inaccurate factual disclosure”.
Highlighting the familial aspect of the case, the judge said that while criminal adjudication cannot be governed by emotion, the human dimension adds gravity to the matter.
“A person who would ordinarily look towards his children for care and protection in the later years of his life is, according to the material presently before the court, struggling with a serious injury allegedly sustained at the hands of one of them,” the judge said, directing that Qureshi be taken into custody forthwith and handed over to Nishat police.
Qureshi serves as the director of the European Foundation for South Asian Studies, an Amsterdam based policy research think tank that focuses on regional security, human rights, and counter terrorism in South Asia. Holding a master’s degree in international law, he has frequently addressed platforms including the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, building a public profile through his opposition to cross border terrorism.
His father, Mohammad Hashim Qureshi, is a prominent political figure known for the 1971 hijacking of the Indian Airlines passenger aircraft Ganga to Lahore alongside early separatist leaders. After spending decades in Pakistani detention and subsequent European exile, the senior Qureshi returned to Jammu and Kashmir in 2000, facing prosecution under anti hijacking laws while directing overground political activities through the Jammu Kashmir Democratic Liberation Party. (KDC)
