Shujaat Bukhari murder: J&K Police identify killers in major breakthrough

Srinagar, Jun 27: In a major breakthrough, Jammu and Kashmir Police have identified the attackers who killed senior journalist Shujaat Bukhari on June 14. Police sources say that two of the attackers are from South Kashmir and another is a Pakistani national.

“We have identified the attackers,” a top police officer privy to the investigation told The Indian Express. “Two of them are local militants from south Kashmir while the third one is from Pakistan”.

Police sources say that the Pakistani militant involved in the attack is Naveed Jatt, who escaped from police custody from Shri Maharaja Hari Singh (SMHS) hospital in February this year. Naveed, a Pakistani national, is associated with Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT).

Police sources say they have also identified the Pakistan-based blogger who had “started a smear campaign” against Bukhari. They say the blogger is a militant from Srinagar, who is settled in Pakistan.

Police are likely to address a press conference on Wednesday evening to reveal the details about the case.

Bukhari, a senior journalist and Chief Editor of Rising Kashmir, was killed on June 14 by three men outside his office in Srinagar’s press enclave. Two of Bukhari’s PSOs were also killed in the attack.

Soon after the attack, police released CCTV grabs of the attackers, who were riding a motorcycle. While one of the attackers was wearing a helmet, the other had worn a mask.

Police later arrested a youth who had stolen the pistol from one of Bukhari’s guards. However, police said that the youth Zubair Qadri was a drug addict and he had no role in attack.

While police blamed Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) for the attack, Lashkar has denied its complicity in the attack terming it an act of “Indian agencies”.

Police sources say that were able to identify the attackers using both technical and human intelligence.
Courtesy: The Indian Express