Srinagar, Jun 27: Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Mahmood Shah today said the outfit had nothing to do with the murder of senior journalist Shujaat Bukhari, as their cadres do not attack the unarmed personnel and citizens.
“We abide by the principles of Islamic teachings. It is the Indian intelligence forces themselves who attack the pilgrims so as to damage the repute of freedom fighters by blaming their wrongdoings on them,” LeT spokesman Dr Abdullah Ghaznavi quoted Mehmood Shah as saying in an emailed statement today .
“The Indian forces and their stooges have yet again blamed the ‘mujahideen’ (militants) for martyring Shujaat Bukhari. It is not a secret to anyone that Indian forces have time and again killed innocent Kashmiris, Indians and even foreign tourists to defame and demonise the mujahideen and this incident is no different,” Ghaznavi quoted Shah as having said.
He said “if Indian forces are truly convinced that this heinous crime was committed by the mujahideen, then they should have no objection to an independent investigation of this murder by a neutral country — such as China or Russia — and we would fully co operate in the investigation and would accept the findings of the investigating agency.”
Let spokesman said Shah also thanked the public for turning up for the funeral prayer of Abu Bakr Abdul Shakoor Dar in and said that “people’s love, support and prayers are our essential and true asset”.
