Prominent lawyer and debater Babar Qadri shot dead in Srinagar

Srinagar: Prominent Srinagar-based lawyer Babar Qadri was Thursday shot dead by unidentified gunmen at Hawal area of the city, police officials said. He was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital.

Qadri, a resident of Srinagar’s Hawal area, had been practicing law in Jammu and Kashmir for more than a decade.

Dr Farooq Jan, medical superintendent at the Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS), confirmed Qadri’s death.

“He was brought dead with multiple gunshot wounds. One of the bullets had hit near his eye and another on his arm,” Jan said. The superintendent added that he was brought to the hospital around 7 pm.

Srinagar Superintendent of Police Haseeb Mughal said police teams had been sent to the location where the attack took place and a massive manhunt launched to find the shooters.

Qadri, who was a student activist, became well-known for taking up cases of juveniles booked under various state government laws such as the Public Safety Act (PSA).

He was a regular on TV news channel panels and was invited as an expert on Kashmir affairs by several national broadcasters. (ThePrint)