*LONDON – *Senior journalist Shujaat Bukhari, who was shot dead inSrinagar last week, had approached Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti only a fewdays ago for increased security, the former head of India’s external spyagency RAW, A S Dulat said today.

Mr Bukhari, the editor-in-chief of the daily ‘Rising Kashmir’, was shotdead outside his office in Srinagar on June 14. Two police officersprovided to him as personal bodyguards were also killed in the attack. Thegovernment has blamed terrorists based in Kashmir for the killings.

“He (Mr Bukhari) had warned repeatedly of alienation, increased militancyand all pervasive fear in which no one was safe,” Mr Dulat, who arrivedhere last week, said in a statement.

Mr Bukhari had “approached the Chief Minister only a few days ago forincreased security. Yet who could have imagined that this gentle soul wouldbecome a target. Why?” Mr Dulat asked.

“We had met at Istanbul about 6 weeks ago from where he travelled toPakistan. Despite travelling for more than a fortnight he came fromSrinagar to Delhi for the launch of my book ‘The Spy Chronicles’ on May 23.As usual he spoke fearlessly about his beloved Valley which he saw sinkingin the last couple of years,” the former intelligence chief said.

Mr Bukhari was the most committed votary of dialogue as the only way out,he said. “He was a gem of a human being and a friend; possibly thebrightest journalist in the Valley with a great future,” he added.