Police arrest the main accused involved in the killing of Director General Prison in Jammu

New Delhi: Jammu and Kashmir Police said that in a major chase, the accused, a domestic servant involved in the murder case of Hemant Lohia, has been apprehended. Interrogation of the accused has started.

Earlier, a separate police press release said that "no terror act is apparent as per initial investigation" in the killing of J&K DG Prisons H K Lohia, allegedly murdered by his domestic help, "but a thorough probe is on to rule out any possibility."

J&K Director General of Police (Prisons) Hemant Kumar Lohia was found dead on Monday night, hours after Union Home Minister Amit Shah arrived in Jammu for a three-day visit.

Additional Director General Mr Mukesh Singh issued a press statement saying that: In the initial investigation into the incident of death of DG Prisons, Shri. HK Lohia, it has come to fore that one domestic helper, Yasir Ahmed, a resident of Ramban, is the main accused.

Some CCTV footage collected from the incident site also shows the suspected accused running away after the commission of this crime.

He was working in this house for nearly six months.. initial investigation reveals that he was quite aggressive in his behaviour and was also under depression as per sources.

So far, no terror act is apparent as per the Initial investigation, but a thorough probe is on to rule out any possibility. The weapon of offence has been seized, besides some documentary evidence reflecting his mental state.

The gruesome murder was reported when Home Minister Mr Amit Shah reached Jammu on his three days tour to the union territory.

Meanwhile, the People's Anti-Fascist Front (PAFF), which the police say is a front of Jaish-e-Mohammad, claimed responsibility for the murder in a statement yet to be authenticated. In a viral social media statement, PAFF said its "special squad carried out an intelligence-based operation in Udaiwala Jammu eliminating DG of Police, Prisons department H K Lohia, a high-value target".

Yasir, the domestic help of DG Prison, is from the hilly Ramban area of Jammu and has been a domestic help to a couple of bureaucrats/police officers for the last couple of years.

Director General of Police, Prisons department, H K Lohia, was murdered under suspicious circumstances here with police suspecting his domestic help as the culprit, a senior police officer said.

Additional Director General of Police, Jammu zone, Mukesh Singh, said the domestic help is absconding, and a search for him has started.

The 57-year-old Lohia, a 1992 batch IPS officer, was found dead with his throat slit at his Udaiwala residence on the outskirts of Jammu.

He was posted at the DGP prisons in August.

The ADGP said the first examination of the crime scene reveals this as a suspected murder case.

"The J&K Police family expresses grief and deep sorrow over the death of their senior officer.