JAMMU: A 23-year-old working as a domestic help was arrested on Tuesday for allegedly killing Jammu and Kashmir Director General (Prisons) Hemant K Lohia, police said.
Yasir Lohar's arrest followed a major all-night manhunt, police said in a statement, adding that his interrogation had begun.
He was arrested from a field in Kanhachak area. Lohar is a resident of Halla-Dhandrath village in Ramban district.
Lohia, who was appointed as DG Prisons on August 3 this year, was found murdered in his home at the Udhewala area of Jammu yesterday evening.
He was a 1992-batch IPS officer.
After murder of the DG Prisons, forensic teams reached the crime spot to collect samples and evidences. The top police officials also visited the spot to take stock of the situation to start the investigation into the murder of the top cop.
ADGP Jammu Mukesh Singh said some CCTV footage collected from the incident site also shows the suspected accused running away after commission of this crime.
Yasir, according to police, was working in Lohia’s house for about 6 months.
The outfit claimed that “Our special squad carried out the operation. It is just a beginning of such high profile operations just to warn this Hindutva regime and its collaborators that we can strike anytime and anywhere with precision (sic).
“This is a ‘small gift’ to the visiting Home Minister amid such a security grid (sic),” the outfit claimed in the statement.
However, the claim of the militant outfit could not be independently verified.
Lohia's murder took place hours after Home Minister Amit Shah arrived in Jammu on three-day visit of Jammu and Kashmir.
(With inputs from PTI)