Habibullah, a 1968 batch IAS officer from Jammu and Kashmir cadre, claimed that the state police conspired with an arrested militant of Pakistan-based Hizbul Mujahideen to kidnap and murder Dr Abdul Ahad Guru, a leading physician.

In his book -- My Kashmir: Conflict and the Prospects of Enduring Peace -- the 62-year-old Habibullah said that in April 1993, "the chief ideologue of the JKLF, Dr Guru, was kidnapped and brutally murdered by the Hizbul Mujahideen militant Zulqarnain."

The author, who has been a part of the state government during the turbulent times of 1990s, alleged that Guru, who had founded a medical college, had "commanded wide respect" as he presented a "reasonable face of separatism" and was "therefore, an inconvenience to the police".