Three crucial witnesses, including former Jammu and Kashmir High Court Bar Association president Mian Abdul Qayoom, failed to make an appearance in a special TADA (Terrorist and Disruptive Activities) court in Jammu on Thursday.

The witnesses were summoned in connection with the 1989 abduction of Rubaiya Sayeed, the daughter of the then Union home minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed. However, separatist leader Yasin Malik and his associate Rafiq Pahloo attended the proceedings through video-conferencing.