[3] He was allegedly involved in the kidnapping of Rubiya Sayed,[4] daughter of Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, the then Home Minister of India.
His mother recalled "The Principal of the Biscoe School summoned us one day and informed that even though Ashfaq was a brilliant student and an athlete of repute, he possessed leanings quite uncommon in teenagers".
[5] At the age of 14, Wani refused to accompany his family members in the funeral procession of Sheikh Abdullah, an early sign of what was to form a part of his ideology.
He was arrested on 23 March 1987 for his involvement with the Muslim United Front, which took part in elections, was imprisoned at the Central Jail, Srinagar.
A day before he left for Pakistan-administered Kashmir while serving meals at the wedding reception, he overheard Mohiuddin Shah, a veteran National Conference politician talking about the futility of agitations against the government.
Wani was killed at the age of 23, in an encounter with Indian paramilitary troops and an army unit in the Hawwal area of the old city Srinagar on 30 March 1990.