35 years after Sarla Bhat's rape-murder, J&K probe agency chargesheets Yasin Malik
Nearly 35 years after the abduction, rape, torture and murder of Kashmiri Pandit nurse Sarla Bhat, the State Investigation Agency (SIA), Kashmir, is set to
Nearly 35 years after the abduction, rape, torture and murder of Kashmiri Pandit nurse Sarla Bhat, the State Investigation Agency (SIA), Kashmir, is set to file a 737-page chargesheet before a special court in Srinagar, naming JKLF chief Mohammad Yasin Malik and other accused. Sources confirm the investigation has revealed the involvement of Mohammad Yasin Malik, then Chief Commander of JKLF, along with Khurshid Ahmad Chalkoo, Abdul Hamid Sheikh, Mohammad Yousuf Sofi alias Idrees and Ghulam Mohammad Taploo in planning and executing the abduction and brutal killing. Read Full Story While Abdul Hamid Sheikh, Mohammad Yousuf Sofi alias Idrees and Ghulam Mohammad Taploo are deceased, Mohammad Yasin Malik is presently in judicial custody in another case. Legal proceedings, including proclamation proceedings, have been initiated against absconding terrorist Khurshid Ahmad Chalkoo (the man who pulled the trigger), who is believed to have exfiltrated to Pakistan-occupied Jammu & Kashmir. The case was transferred to the SIA, J&K, on March 18, 2024, under the orders of the Director General of Police (DGP), J&K.
The voluminous chargesheet, painstakingly compiled after an exhaustive investigation, brings together a formidable body of oral, documentary, forensic, ballistic, medical and electronic evidence accumulated over decades and meticulously analysed by SIA Kashmir. The filing of the chargesheet after nearly thirty-five years marks a historic milestone in the pursuit of justice for victims of terrorism and stands as one of the most significant breakthroughs in the investigation of legacy terror crimes in Jammu & Kashmir. The case relates to one of the most barbaric terrorist crimes committed during the early phase of terrorism in Kashmir. Sarla Bhat was abducted from the vicinity of Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) on April 18, 1990, subjected to brutal torture and physical assault, and thereafter horrendously killed through automatic rifle fire at Omer Colony, Malbagh, Srinagar. For decades, the case remained unresolved owing to the extraordinary circumstances prevailing during the peak years of terrorism in Jammu & Kashmir. The atmosphere of fear, intimidation and terror created by terrorist organisations had severely impacted the ability of witnesses to come forward and disclose material facts.
Terrorist organisations had created an environment where silence was enforced through threats and violence, allowing many heinous crimes to remain buried beneath layers of fear and coercion. The Sarla Bhat case became one such symbol of the dark chapter of terrorism that engulfed the Kashmir Valley. Yet, neither the memory of the victim nor the quest for justice faded with time. Upon being entrusted to SIA Kashmir in March 2024, the case was subjected to a comprehensive and scientific investigation. Despite the lapse of more than three and a half decades, investigators painstakingly reconstructed the sequence of events through protected witness testimonies, independent eyewitness accounts, forensic and ballistic analysis, medical evidence, documentary records, electronic evidence and extensive field investigations. The investigation has conclusively established that the killing of Sarla Bhat was not an isolated act of violence but part of a larger terrorist conspiracy orchestrated under the command and control of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF).
The BriefWire