In a fresh revelation in the shocking murder of veteran Kashmiri journalist Shujaat Bukhari, the Jammu and Kashmir Police on Thursday said that the assassination conspiracy was hatched in Pakistan and carried out by Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorists.
Addressing media in Sringar, IGP Kashmir SP Pani said that ‘Sajad Gul now based in Pakistan, Azad Ahmed Malik, LeT oeprative from Anantnag district, Muzafar Ahmad Bhat, LeT ,Naveed Jatt have been identified in the murder case.’
He also said that the J&K Police will approach courts to get non-bailable warrants against the accused. The police will also start process for Red Corner Notice against the fourth accused in Pakistan, Pani said.
The statement by the J&K police comes a day after reports suggested that Bukhaari’s killers have been identified. Lashkar’s dreaded commander Naveed Jutt is the priume accused in the case. The LeT commander, who had confessed to having met the 26/11 attacker Ajmal Kasab in a training camp in Pakistan, Jutt had pulled off a dramatic escape from Srinagar’s Shri Maharaja Hari Singh (SMHS) Hospital after his associates shot dead two policemen accompanying him for a medical checkup and investigations on February 6.
After scanning CCTV footage, which showed three men – one wearing a helmet, another wearing a mask and the third one hiding his face -- riding a motorbike, the police zeroed in on them. The terrorist hiding his face has been identified as Naveed Jutt.
The then editor-in-chief of The Rising Kashmir was leaving for an Iftar party at his home when the gunmen fired indiscriminately at his vehicle outside his office at Mushtaq Enclave in Press Colony of Srinagar’s Partap Park. He along with two personal security officers (PSOs) suffered grievous wounds. The three were rushed to a hospital where they were declared dead.
