Updated: June 15, 2018 12:59 PM IST
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Jammu And Kashmir: Thousands Come Out to Pay Last Respects as Shujaat Bukhari is Laid to Rest
Baramulla, June 15: The last rites of slain journalist Shujaat Bukhari were held in his ancestral village of Kreeri on Friday. The Rising Kashmir editor was gunned down by unknown assailants on Thursday evening outside his office. His two personal security officers were also shot dead. Braving heavy rains, crowds from across the Valley followed the cortege through the streets in Baramulla district, reported PTI. Among those who visited his ancestral home were opposition leader Omar Abdullah and ministers from the PDP and the BJP. It was probably the biggest funeral procession the village had seen, observers said.
Fifty-three-year-old Bukhari, who had worked as the state correspondent for The Hindu for several years, was shot dead soon after he got into his car from his Press Enclave office in Lal Chowk. He was reportedly shot multiple times. Late on Thursday, the Jammu and Kashmir Police released two pictures of three bike-borne men who are suspected to have killed Bukhari. Police sought the public’s help in identifying them, ANI reported. The three militants were caught on a CCTV camera, police said.
The attackers had their faces covered. “In connection with today’s terror attack at Srinagar, police requests general public to identify the suspects for the purpose of the police investigation,” a police statement read. Reacting, J-K Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti tweeted: “Terrorism has hit a new low with Shujaat’s killing. That too, on the eve of Eid. We must unite against forces seeking to undermine our attempts to restore peace. Justice will be done.”
Meanwhile, the trouble-torn state is reeling under the shock of Bukari’s brazen murder, coming as it did on the same day as the bullet-riddled body of abducted Army jawan Aurangzeb was found in Pulwama. At a time when Muslims around the world were eagerly waiting for the crescent moon, the state was mourning the loss of two lives at the hands of terrorism.
