JK police arrests a suspect in connection with killing of journalist Shujaat Bukhari; pistol recovered

NewsBharati    16-Jun-2018
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Srinagar, June 16: Taking a quick action in the murder case of noted journalist Shujaat Bukhari, the Jammu and Kashmir police arrested a youth and recovered pistol from his possession. Notably, the arrested youth is identified as the fourth suspect in connection with the killing of journalist Shujaat Bukhari while three others are on the run.

 

Inspector General of Police Kashmir, SP Pani on Friday during a press conference said that a person who is identified as Zubair Qayoom of Saderabal area has been arrested and taken into the custody as he was the fourth suspect in connection with the killing of journalist Shujaat Bukhari. His role was to recover pistol from Bukhari’s PSO. Investigation of the case is going on," IGP Pani added.

“With the cooperation of public we could identify the fourth suspect who was seen in the video. He has been taken into custody. During the disclosures of the suspect, the pistol which was taken out from the scene of the crime has been recovered. Also the clothes, the suspect was wearing on the day of incident, have been recovered by the investigators,” Pani added.

He further noted that the earlier stage of investigation into Bukhari’s murder case suggests a terrorist-related crime. On Thursday a noted journalist and the editor of Rising Kashmir newspaper Syed Shujaat Bukhari along with his Personal Security Officer (PSO) were shot dead by unidentified gunmen in Srinagar.

A group of unidentified armed assailants had been waiting outside the office and indiscriminately fired upon Shujaat and his guards when they were leaving for home in a private SUV car to break the day-long fast. Shujaat and his SPO Hamid died on the spot while Mumtaz died later after he was evacuated to the hospital.

In the video, which has gone viral on social media, the fourth suspect—a thinly bearded youth wearing white traditional Kashmiri dress with a white cap covering his head-is seen appearing at the scene of a crime. While trying to remove the injured Mumtaz from the vehicle, the suspect is seen picking up the pistol from the ground, hiding it in his pocket and fled from the crime scene.

Police have registered a case FIR No. 51/2018 into Bukhari’s murder. Meanwhile, the police have also formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the case. The SIT is headed by Deputy Inspector General of Police central Kashmir, Vidhi Kumar Birdi

Syed Shujaat Bukhari was laid to rest at his ancestral graveyard in North Kashmir's Baramulla district on Friday. Thousands of people attended funeral prayers of Bukhari which was held at Idd Gah Ground at Kreeri area of Baramulla. Shujaat was editor-in-chief of English daily Rising Kashmir, Urdu daily Buland Kashmir, and Kashmir daily Sangarmal, which are run by Kashmir Media House (KMH). He is survived by parents, wife and two minor children, a girl and a boy.