news details |
|
|
| Fresh trouble looms for Yasin Malik as SIA cracks Sarla Bhat murder case | | | Early Times Report
Jammu, June 28: Jailed Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chief Yasin Malik is likely to face fresh legal trouble as the State Investigation Agency (SIA) is set to file a chargesheet in the 1990 abduction and murder of Kashmiri Pandit nurse Sarla Bhat, marking another major development in the reopening of one of the Valley's most high-profile terror-era cases.
According to official sources, the SIA has completed its investigation into the 36-year-old case and is expected to file the chargesheet before a trial court in Srinagar next week. The investigation was reopened on the directions of Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, who in August 2025 ordered a fresh probe into the kidnapping and killing of the nurse.
Sarla Bhat, a 27-year-old nurse from Anantnag, was abducted on April 18, 1990, from the Habba Khatoon Hostel of the Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS), Soura. Her bullet-riddled body was recovered the following day from Umar Colony, Mallabagh, on the outskirts of Srinagar.
At the time, a note purportedly left by the JKLF described her as an "informer" for the security forces. Although the Jammu and Kashmir Police registered a case and conducted an investigation, those responsible for the killing were never brought to justice.
Following the reopening of the case, the SIA carried out searches at multiple locations in August 2025 and re-examined evidence, witnesses and other material collected during the investigation.
Sources familiar with the probe said the agency has identified four persons allegedly involved in the crime. Of them, three are reported to have died over the past three decades, while the fourth is believed to be absconding in Pakistan. Investigators are also examining the larger conspiracy behind the abduction and killing, including the alleged role of the then JKLF leadership.
According to investigators, the murder took place days after Yasin Malik, then a senior JKLF terrorist commander, was injured while allegedly escaping from a security cordon in downtown Srinagar. He was reportedly treated secretly at SKIMS, prompting security forces to conduct searches at the hospital. Malik was later arrested in August 1990 from the residence of businessman Zahoor Watali in the Baghat Barzulla area of Srinagar, where arms and ammunition were also recovered, according to police records.
The impending chargesheet is expected to add to Malik's mounting legal challenges. The terrorist leader is already serving a life sentence after being convicted in a terror funding case by a Delhi court in 2022 under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and other provisions of law.
Apart from the terror funding conviction, Malik is also facing trial in several other high-profile terror-related cases. These include the 1990 killing of four Indian Air Force personnel in Srinagar, in which several others were injured, and the abduction of Rubaiya Sayeed, daughter of former Union Home Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, in December 1989. The Rubaiya Sayeed kidnapping is widely regarded as a turning point in the onset of terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir after the government released jailed militants in exchange for her freedom.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is prosecuting the Indian Air Force personnel killing case and the Rubaiya Sayeed kidnapping case, has been pursuing Malik's physical production before the trial court through video conferencing and other legal means, as he remains lodged in Tihar Jail.
Officials said the filing of the chargesheet in the Sarla Bhat murder case is expected to pave the way for judicial proceedings in another case linked to the early years of terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir, reflecting the administration's renewed focus on investigating unresolved terror crimes from the 1990s. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
