Shujaat Bukhari, a Kashmiri journalist who works as a Special Correspondent with The Hindu, had a narrow escape last night when unidentified armed youths made a bid on his life.Bukhari was abducted from the busy Residency Road in Srinagar last night, minutes after he stepped out of The Indian Express office after meeting colleagues.He was told to board a waiting autorickshaw and then driven through different localities of Batamaloo and downtown Srinagar. “A person approached me and offered a handshake. He asked me to board an autorickshaw, parked nearby. When I asked why, he took out a pistol and told me to get in,” Bukhari recalled.“They were three, one of them was at the wheel. I was told to switch off my mobile phone. At Ali Jan Road, one of them received a call on his mobile and he responded with an “Is it so?”. He then directed the driver to turn around.”Moments later, Bukhari was dragged out of the autorickshaw and one of the youths fired at him but the pistol didn’t work. Bukhari fled into an adjoining locality. After walking quite some distance, he hired another autorickshaw to reach a friend’s home. Srinagar SSP Afad-ul-Mujtaba told The Indian Express that the case was being investigated. “We are on it. There’s no breakthrough so far.”
