Noted Kashmiri journalist Shujaat Bukhari was shot dead by suspected militants in insurgency-hit Indian Kashmir on Thursday, officials said.
Bukhari, editor of the local daily Rising Kashmir, was shot at close range by unidentified motorcycle-riding gunmen as he was leaving his office in the state capital Srinagar, state police chief S P Vaid said.
He was rushed to the hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. Two security guards protecting Bukhari were also hit by bullets and one of them also died, Vaid said.
"Terrorism has hit a new low with Shujaat's killing. That too, on the eve of Eid," state chief minister Mehbooba Mufti said on Twitter. 
"We must unite against forces seeking to undermine our attempts to restore peace. Justice will be done."
Bukhari, who was previously associated with the Hindu daily, was an important member of the Indian media fraternity.
This is the first attack on a journalist in Indian Kashmir in a long time and Kashmiri media professionals called it an attack on the freedom of the press.
Indian Kashmir has seen a secessionist movement since the mid-1980s in which more than 44,500 people have died.
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