Jammu and Kashmir prisons chief Hemant Kumar Lohia was allegedly murdered by his stressed domestic help on Monday night in Jammu, hours after the home minister had landed in the city for a three-day visit.

Lohia, who was promoted as director general of police in the prisons department in August, was murdered at his friend's home in the city outskirts, where he had shifted a few days back.

His domestic help Yasir Ahmad Lohar, 23, a native of Ramban district, was the only person accompanying him in the house at the time of the attack. He was arrested after a massive manhunt and is being questioned.

What has added to the mystery is that the militant group People's Anti-Fascist Front has claimed the responsibility but the police have so far denied any militancy link to the murder.

Police said the 1992 batch IPS officer had his throat slit with burn injuries on his body.

A police statement said Lohar was arrested after an all-night manhunt in the Kanachuk area of Jammu.

Director general of police Dilbag Singh said militants "shamelessly" take credit for all incidents, suggesting there was no militant angle.

"For the time being, the terror angle is ruled out but if during the investigation, such a thing comes to light, we will see to it. So far there is no clue of involvement of a terror group," he said.

The killing sparked panic in the security establishment as police top brass was busy with the visit of Shah.

The police said they have got relevant clues which indicate the accused had a history of aggressive behaviour.

Officials said the DGP was applying some oil on his swollen foot while the suspect bolted the room from inside to carry out the attack with a sharp weapon. There was an attempt to torch his body as a burning pillow was thrown at the body.

The killer used a broken ketchup bottle to slit his throat after apparently suffocating him to death, police said.

"The guards present at the residence of the officer saw fire inside his room and broke open the door," additional DGP Jammu Mukesh Singh said.

The ADGP said the CCTV footage collected from the incident site showed the accused running away after allegedly committing the crime.

"Initial investigation revealed that he was quite aggressive in his behaviour and was also under depression," he said.

The help was in this house for nearly six months.

Police shared some pages from the diary of the accused, which suggested he was fed up with life.

On one page, he wrote he was "99 per cent sad" but was wearing a 100 per cent "fake smile".

"I am 10 per cent happy, having zero per cent love in life and 90 per cent tension in life. I hate my life which only gives pain and am waiting for death to restart my (after) life," the diary in Urdu reads.

Another page reads short sentences like "I hate my life"…"Life is just grief."

Earlier in the day, police had shared photos of the domestic help and sought help from people in tracing him.

Militant group People Against Fascist Forces (PAFF), a front for Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), claimed in yet to be authenticated statement, that it was responsible for the killings.

PAFF said its "special squad carried out an intelligence-based operation in Udaiwala Jammu eliminating DG of police, prisons department H.K. Lohia, a high-value target".