Journalism

Indian authorities must bring killers of Shujaat Bukhari to justice, says Committee to Protect Journalists

The Committee to Protect Journalists today strongly condemned the killing of the editor of the English-language daily newspaper Rising Kashmir, Shujaat Bukhari, in Srinagar, Kashmir.

Armed attackers had fired indiscriminately on the vehicle Journalist Shujaat Bukhari had boarded, killing him and two of his Personal Security Officers in Press Avenue, Srinagar. The attackers after the incident managed to flee with their weapons.

“The killing of Shujaat Bukhari is a profound loss to the journalism community and a blatant attack on freedom of the press,” said Robert Mahoney, CPJ’s deputy executive director. “Journalists working in Jammu and Kashmir have long been subject to a range of threats. Authorities must turn this rising tide of risks by thoroughly investigating this murder and holding the perpetrators to account.”

“Given the number of unsolved journalist murders and the political turmoil in Kashmir, we are concerned whether the Indian authorities will investigate this murder in a timely and effective manner,” Robert Mahoney, deputy executive director of the Committee to Protect Journalists, said from New York. “Until justice has been served, the killing of Shujaat Bukhari will exacerbate the climate of fear in which journalists work in the state.”

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Jammu and Kashmir Police on Friday sought the help of the general public to identify one more suspect  in the murder of Journalist Shujaat Bukhari who was shot and killed in an audacious attack in the Press Avenue in Srinagar.

Press Avenue is located in the heart of Srinagar, and is heavily guarded and regulated at all times.

The police spokesperson in a statement has requested the general public to identify the suspects for the purpose of the police investigation.

In a video taken after the attack, the suspect appears to be checking inside the car, and picking up something that falls when people try to rescue the driver who appears to be alive when the video is taken

Earlier, the police had released a photo of three suspected attackers.

 

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