The prime accused in the murder of Jammu and Kashmir’s director general (prisons) Hemant K Lohia, Yasir Ahmed, was apprehended on Tuesday after a massive search was launched to nab him.
ADGP Mukesh Singh said interrogation of the accused is underway. “In a major manhunt launched by J&K police throughout the night, the accused involved in murder case of Hemant Lohia has been apprehended. Interrogation of the accused has started,” Singh said in a statement.
Ahmed, 23, was working as a domestic help at the house where Lohia was residing.
Earlier, DGP Dilbag Singh who visited the crime scene, said, “Lohia had been staying at his friend Sanjeev Khajuria’s friend in Udheywala for some days. Last night after having dinner, the DG went to his room to sleep. Since the DG Prisons had a foot injury, his domestic help Yasir was probably applying some ointment before the latter bolted the room from inside and attacked Lohia repeatedly with a sharp-edged weapon. Yasir later tried to burn Lohia’s body with a pillow cover.”
He said other residents of the house tried to forcibly enter the room to rescue Lohia, but by then he had died.
The DGP further said, “It really unfortunate if domestic help acts in such a way. There are certain clues that suggest Yasir was not in a right state of mind and was also of aggressive nature. The case is being investigated.”
When asked about People’s Antic-Fascist Front owning the responsibility, he said, “All such propaganda outfits shamelessly own everything but there is no such clue as of now with us and we rule it out for the time being but it has to seen, if it comes up during probe.”
It has come to the fore that HK Lohia had returned to Srinagar a day before and stayed with his friend Sanjeev Khajuria at his Udheywala residence.
“Since his official residence at Green Belt Park Gandhi Nagar is being renovated, the DG Prisons had been putting up at his friend’s house . Khajuria runs NGO Nehru Yuva Kendra and Lohia’s wife considered Khajuria as his brother. Lohia had taken along his domestic help Yasir,” a source in the department said.