Did this man kill noted journalist Shujaat Bukhari

Tayiba terrorist who works along with the Hizbul Mujahideen is one of the key suspects in the killing of noted journalist Shujaat Bukhari.

While the sole suspect arrested in connection with the case has failed to provide any vital clue, the police are exploring the role of the ISI, Hurriyat, Hizbul Mujahideen and Lashkar-e-Tayiba in the case.

The police had arrested Zubair Qadri after a video of him stealing a pistol from the murder site surfaced. A police official part of the probe informed that he may not be connected with the murder. He does not appear to be connected with the three killers who were caught on camera.

The police say that one of the three persons who was part of the murder could be Naved Jutt. It may be recalled that in March, a video of Jutt had surfaced in which he was seen along with operatives of the Hizbul Mujahideen.

Jutt it may be recalled had escaped from police custody recently when he was taken to a hospital for a medical check up. This video became a clear indicator that the terrorist groups were working together in Kashmir.

Officials say that it is now clear that this entire operation was carried out on the instructions of the ISI. The ISI was upset with Bukhari for his Track-II efforts in which he had sought for an independent Kashmir. The ISI and the Hizbul were unhappy with his comments on the issue. Following his comments, there were various comments on the social media in which he was accused of being a collaborator.

Officials also say that there were serious differences on the issue of an independent Kashmir, which may have led to the assassination.

Three in one:
Since July 2017, the three terrorist groups- Lashkar-e-Tayiba, Hizbul Mujahideen and Jaish-e-Mohammad have been working together. It was in that month that the three groups took a call to operate as one unit.
The Hizbul Mujahideen was tasked with logistics and local recruitments while the Jaish and Lashkar-e-Tayiba would carry out attacks and raise funds. The bosses of these groups held a meeting during the early part of 2017 and decided that they would need to come together in order to survive.

They were taking this decision in the backdrop of the Indian Army going on the offensive in Kashmir. Further, after a meeting with the top brass of the ISI, it was decided that they could succeed or survive the onslaught only if they worked as one unit.

This meant they would wage united jihad in Kashmir. training camp was set up in Deosai Park at Gilgit Baltistan where nearly 150 terrorists of the three groups were roped in. Each one of them trained under one roof and it was decided that they would be stronger if they pooled their resources. As each of the terrorists had finished their training in batches, they were being launched into Kashmir in groups. The three terrorists who carried out the Sunjuwan attack were part of the Deosai camp and were launched into Kashmir a year back.