Kashmir prison chief murdered

THE chief of the prison service in Indian Kashmir was killed, police said on Tuesday (4), as the powerful home minister visited the Himalayan region.

The body of Hemant Kumar Lohia, 57, the region’s director general of prisons, was found at his home on Monday (3) night in the Jammu region, police said. Police said a household helper was the main suspect, but an Islamist militant group said it had targeted and killed Lohia.

Senior police officer Mukesh Singh said Lohia’s throat had been cut and his body bore burns. The initial investigation suggested it was not a “terror act” but police were investigating, he said.

The People’s Anti-Fascist Front (PAFF), a militant group that emerged after India reorganised the state state into two federally administered territories in 2019, said it had assassinated Lohia.

Reuters could not immediately verify the authenticity of the PAFF statement.