Srinagar court issues arrest order against son of Ganga hijacker Hashim Qureshi, hospitalised with ‘critical injury’

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A local court in Srinagar on Friday (September 11, 2026) denied bail and ordered immediate arrest of the son of Ganga airline hijacker Hashim Qureshi, as the accused allegedly attacked and left his father “critically injured” apparently during a family dispute on September 3 in Srinagar.  

“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,” observed the court.  

The court directed that Junaid Qureshi, son of Hashim Qureshi, be “taken into custody forthwith and handed over to the Nishat police”.

Hashim Qureshi hit the global headlines in 1971 when he, along with an accomplice, allegedly hijacked “Ganga,” an Indian Airliner, and diverted it to Lahore in Pakistan, while it was heading to Jammu from Srinagar. Mr. Qureshi remained in a Pakistani jail before he shifted to Amsterdam and later returned to J&K in 2000.

On September 3, Hashim Qureshi sustained head injury allegedly during a family dispute with his son and was shifted to a private hospital in a “critical condition” in Srinagar. Mr. Qureshi has remained in the hospital since then, according to the family. 

The court said it examined the case diary and the hospital records, “showing Mr. Qureshi to be in a critical condition”. It said upon a prima facie viewing, the footage appears to depict the accused pushing the victim, whereafter the victim falls down the stairs and sustains an injury to his head.”

A First Information Report under Section 109 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita was lodged at the Nishat police station after the incident. Junaid Qureshi is director of the European Foundation for South Asian Studies, an Amsterdam-based policy research think tank, and would address the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva over human rights issues.

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