Srinagar, June 17: National Conference today demanded a CBI probe into the killing of former state minister Mushtaq Ahmad Lone saying it was the only way to rid the state police of black sheep. Asserting that there were "problems" with the state police, NC president Omar Abdullah said the black sheep within the force should be removed. It is possible only through a CBI probe into the killing of Lone.

Abdullah, who is not of member of the legislative assembly of the council, said the coalition government was using Lone's murder as "a means of witch-hunting the national conference leadership". State Law Minister Muzaffar Hussain Beigh, during a heated debate in the house yesterday, had said the investigations into the murder were still on and that the axe might fall on some senior National Conference leaders.

The police-militant nexus in the killing of Lone on September 11 last year rocked the legislative assembly yesterday. Bureau Report