J&K DG Prisons Found Brutally Murdered at Home, Police Nab Accused Domestic Help After Hunt

Jammu and Kashmir’s Director General (Prisons) Hemant K. Lohia was found murdered at his residence in Jammu on Monday night with police suspecting his domestic help as the main culprit.

Director General of Police Dilbag Singh described it as an “extremely unfortunate” incident. Later, the accused was apprehended after a manhunt launched to nab the domestic help identified as Jasir, who had been absconding.

According to Singh, the suspect even tried to set fire to the body of 57-year-old Lohia, who was promoted and appointed as Director General of prisons in the Union Territory in August.

The terror outfit ‘People’s Anti Fascist Force’ has also claimed responsibility for the murder. However, the police have not mentioned the involvement of terror forces in the incident as of yet.

After the claims, police issued a clarification. “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,” ADGP Jammu Mukesh Singh was quoted as saying by ANI.

‘Throat Slit, Burn Injuries on Body’

Mukesh Singh, Additional Director General of Police, Jammu Zone, said Lohia, a 1992-batch IPS officer, was found dead with burn injuries on his body and his throat slit when he visited the house in Udaiwala on the outskirts of Jammu.

The guards stationed at the officer’s residence observed fire in Lohia’s room. He explained that they had to break open the door because it was locked from the inside.

The ADGP said the preliminary investigation of the crime scene points to murder.

“The domestic help has gone missing. “The search for him has begun,” he had said, adding that forensic and crime teams were on the scene.

“The investigation has begun.” Senior officers are on the scene,” the officer said, adding that the J&K Police family is devastated by the death of their senior officer.

Mukesh said some CCTV footages collected from the incident site also showed the suspected accused running away after committing the crime. “He was working in this house for nearly 6 months.. initial investigation reveals that he was quite aggressive in his behaviour and was also under depression,” sources said.

With inputs from PTI

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