Suspected militants on Thursday shot dead Shujaat Bukhari, editor of the Rising Kashmir daily, in Press Colony of Srinagar, ANI reported. A personal safety officer guarding him was also killed, while another was injured.

Bukhari had been taken to hospital after the attack, NDTV reported. The journalist is said to have received multiple bullets in the head and abdomen, according to Free Press Kashmir

Bukhari was given police protection after an attack on him in 2000.

Reactions from journalists and politicians

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti expressed her shock at the murder. “The scourge of terror has reared its ugly head on Eid,” she tweeted. “I strongly condemn this act of mindless violence.”

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh described Bukhari’s killing as an “act of cowardice”, and “an attempt to silence the saner voices of Kashmir”, ANI reported.

Former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah expressed his shock at the attack and shared a snapshot of their last text conversation. “I cannot believe the mulaqat [meeting] we were going to fix will never take place now. Life is just too uncertain and often too unkind,” Abdullah tweeted.

Congress President Rahul Gandhi paid his condolences to Bukhari’s family. “I am anguished to hear about the killing of Shujaat Bukhari, editor of Rising Kashmir,” Gandhi tweeted.

The Editors Guild of India also condemned the attack on Bukhari. “The Editors Guild of India unequivocally condemns the assassination of Rising Kashmir Editor Shujaat Bukhari,” the guild tweeted. “This is a grave attack on press freedom and democratic voices.”

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Attacks on journalists

There have been a number of attacks on journalists in India in the recent past. In April, unidentified gunmen shot journalist Anuj Chaudhary, who works with Hindi news channel Sahara Samay. But, he survived the attack.

Journalist Sandeep Sharma, who was investigating illegal sand mining cases in Madhya Pradesh, was killed after being run over by a truck in Bhind district the same month.