Director General Prisons H.K Lohia, 57, was found dead at his close friend’s home in Jammu on Monday. Police said his throat was slit and burn injuries were present on his body.
DG Lohia was attacked when he was “applying oil on his swollen foot”, said Additional Director General of Police, Jammu, Mukesh Singh. The killer suffocated Lohia, used the broken ketchup bottle to slit his throat, and tried to set the body on fire, according to him.
“The security guards broke into Mr. Lohia’s room after they saw flames. The room was locked from the inside,” said Singh. CCTV footage shows the suspect, Lohia’s domestic help Yasir Ahmed, a native of Ramban, running away.
“He (Ahmed) had been working at this house for nearly six months. Initial investigations reveal he was quite aggressive and was also suffering from depression as per sources,” Singh said. “Police have also seized some documentary evidence, including his diary, reflecting his mental state.”
What appears to be Ahmed’s diary reveals a depressed mind fixated on death. “Dear death, come into my life,” says a note. “I’m sorry I am having bad day, week, month, year, life,” says another.
The diary has songs in Hindi, one of which is titled, “Bhula dena mujhe (Forget me)”. Other pages are filled with short sentences and notes – “I hate my life”, “Life is just grief…” – and one has a chart that starts with a drawing of a phone battery labelled “My Life 1%”. “Love 0%, Tension 90%, Sad 99%, Fake Smile 100%,” it reads, as per the report.
Lohia was staying at a friend’s residence with his family while his home was being refurbished.
Born in 1965, Lohia was a 1992-IPS Officer. He was appointed as DG Prisons in August 2022.
So far, the police in Jammu has informed that no apparent militancy angle has emerged during the initial investigation but maintained that they are probing all angles.
Earlier, in a purported social media post, a militant outfit ‘People’s Anti Facist Front’ claimed responsibility for the incident warning that this was ‘just the beginning of such high profile operations.’ The police haven’t confirmed this claim as of now.
The 23-year-old working as a domestic help was arrested on Tuesday after an all-night manhunt, police said in a statement, adding that his interrogation had begun. He was arrested from a field in Kanhachak area.
