Lashkar, Hizbul deny role in murder

BLAME GAME It is a ‘conspiracy’ as ‘Indian agencies have enmity towards every individual who is loyal to the freedom movement’, says LashkareTaiba

SRINAGAR : Two militant groups on Friday blamed Indian security agencies for the murder of journalist Shujaat Bukhari and demanded an independent probe of his death in Srinagar.

“The killing of Shujaat Bukhari at a time when the UN human rights Commission released a report on human rights abuses by Indian forces in Kashmir raises many questions,” said Syed Salahuddin, head of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen and the United Jehad Council.

Salahuddin, who is based in Pakistan and issued a statement to media in Srinagar, was referring to a UN report that on Thursday accused Indian and Pakistani security forces of using excessive force in both sides of Kashmir and of killing and wounding civilians since 2016. It called for an international inquiry into alleged violations. India rejected the report.

A spokesperson for the Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group quoted its chief Mahmood Shah as saying that Bukhari’s murder was a “conspiracy” as “Indian agencies have enmity towards every individual who is loyal to the freedom movement”.

Shah alleged that India “is keen to killing every individual who is vocal about the indigenous freedom struggle and India’s atrocities.”

“The killing of Shujat Bukhari is also a wrongdoing of India’s secret agencies which is a highly condemnable act,” said Shah.

Bukhari, was assassinated when three bike-borne youth opened fire on him just outside the office of Rising Kashmir, the newspaper he edited, on Thursday evening.

HT English newspaper Rising Kashmir hit the stands on Friday with a tribute to its murdered editorinchief Shujaat Bukhari, on its front page with a message that said it would not be cowed down.