Hemant’s home employee Kumar Lohia is the primary accused within the homicide, additionally claimed by a insurgent group.
Police in Indian-administered Kashmir have introduced that they’ve arrested the prime suspect within the homicide of the area’s prime jail official.
The physique of Hemant Kumar Lohia, 57, was discovered Monday evening beneath suspicious circumstances at his pal’s residence within the city of Jammu in Indian-administered south Kashmir.
In a tweet on Tuesday, police mentioned they arrested Lohia home employee Yasir Ahmad, 23, as a suspect after “a significant manhunt”.
“The interrogation of the accused has begun,” added the police assertion posted on Twitter.
The Folks’s Anti-Fascist Entrance (PAFF), which police say is an offshoot of the Pakistan-based armed group Jaish-e-Muhammad, claimed duty for the killing.
“Our particular squad carried out an intelligence-based operation in Udaiwala in Jammu,” learn a press release posted by PAFF on social media. “That is solely the start of such high-profile operations.”
Al Jazeera couldn’t independently confirm the authenticity of the PAFF assertion. Ahmad’s hyperlinks to the insurgent group haven’t but been established by the authorities.
Police, nonetheless, denied any terrorist angle behind the killing. “No terrorist acts are obvious based mostly on the preliminary investigation, however a radical investigation is underway to rule out any chance,” a press release launched by police mentioned.
Police mentioned the weapon used to slit Lohia’s throat was seized together with paperwork suggesting the home employee could have psychological well being points.
“Preliminary investigations reveal that he (Ahmad) was fairly aggressive in his conduct and was additionally depressed based on the sources,” they mentioned.
The police assertion mentioned safety digicam footage collected from the crime scene confirmed the suspect fleeing the home moments after Lohia was killed.
Go to of the Minister of the Inside
The PAFF assertion additionally mentioned Lohia’s killing was a “small reward” to Indian Federal House Minister Amit Shah, who arrived in Indian-administered Kashmir on Monday for a three-day go to.
Previous to the go to, suspected rebels carried out two separate assaults previously three days.
On Monday, a financial institution supervisor escaped unscathed after being shot lifeless by assailants in Baramulla district. The day earlier than, a policeman had been killed and a paramilitary soldier injured after they had been attacked by suspected rebels in Pulwama district.
Shah is near Prime Minister Narendra Modi and helped strip India’s solely Muslim-majority area of its restricted autonomy in 2019. The transfer cut up the area into two federally managed territories and launched a sequence of legal guidelines and insurance policies who, based on the Kashmiris, are aimed altering demographics area and denying them rights to their lands and livelihoods.
The disputed Himalayan area of Kashmir is partially managed by India and Pakistan, however claimed by the 2 South Asian nuclear powers in full. Since gaining independence from British rule in 1947, the 2 nations have fought two of their three full-scale wars in Kashmir.
For the reason that late Nineteen Eighties, Kashmir rebels have been lead an armed insurrection towards Indian rule with the goal of both merging with Pakistan or creating an impartial nation of Kashmir. Tens of 1000’s of individuals have been killed within the battle since 1989.
Whereas rebels typically goal Indian authorities officers deployed within the area, Lohia’s homicide is the primary focusing on of a senior official in a number of years.
Lohia was appointed to take cost of prisons in Indian-administered Kashmir in August this 12 months. He had been dwelling at his pal’s home along with his household since his official residence was beneath renovation.
The suspect, Ahmad, who’s from Ramban district, began working for Lohia six months in the past.