Hundreds throng for journalist Shujaat Bukhari's funeral

Srinagar, June 15 (IANS) Many hundreds of mourners attended the funeral of senior journalist and Editor-in-Chief of "Rising Kashmir" Shujaat Bukhari in Jammu and Kashmir's Baramulla district, a day after gunmen shot him dead.

His ancestral hometown Kheeri, where he was buried, observed a spontaneous strike during the funeral, with all shops remaining shut.

Former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, Public Works Minister Naeem Akhtar, senior Congress leader Saifuddin Soz, journalists and people from all sections of the society attened the funeral, residents said.

Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti also went to Kheeri but remained confined at Bukhari's home with women members of the family.

Three motorcycle-borne militants shot dead Bukhari and two of his security guards as he boarded his car in Srinagar's Press Enclave at on Wednesday evening as he was trying to reach home in time for iftar.

The killing, two days ahead of Eid, has been widely condemned.