NEW DELHI: A day after the assassination of Kashmiri journalist Shujaat Bukhari, J&K Police on Friday arrested one suspect in connection with the killing, according to IG Kashmir.
The suspect, whose photograph was released earlier today by the police, was identified as Zubair Qayoom. In the picture he can be seen retrieving the weapon from Bukhari’s PSO from the sire of the accident.
Addresing the media, IG J&K Police confirmed that Bukhari was assassinated in a terror-related incident and an SIT has been constituted under Deputy Inspector General (central Kashmir) V K Virdi to investigate the matter.
Earlier today, J&K Police had released a screen grab showing a suspect in connection with the killing and had sought the help of the general public in identifying him.
The police issued the picture from a video, which was purportedly recorded by a passerby following the attack on Bukhari outside his office, showing a bearded man surveying the inside of the journalist’s vehicle.
As a man pulls out Bukhari’s guard, the suspect is seen picking up his pistol and disappearing from the scene right under the nose of the cops there.
Late last night, police had issued two photographs of three-motorcycle borne suspects that were taken from the CCTV footage. However, their faces were not visible.
While the driver was wearing a helmet, one of the pillion riders had used a face mask to conceal his identity. The face of the third assailant, sitting in the middle, did not seem to be covered but he was leaning towards the other side so as not to be captured on the CCTV.
Prasanta Patnaik