Srinagar, June 29 (NVI): In a major breakthrough in one of Kashmir’s oldest terror cases, the State Investigation Agency (SIA), Kashmir, has filed a 737-page chargesheet before a special court in Srinagar in connection with the abduction, torture and killing of SKIMS nurse Sarla Bhat in April 1990, naming former JKLF chief Mohammad Yasin Malik and four others as accused.
According to the SIA, the chargesheet has been filed before the Court of the Additional Sessions Judge, TADA/POTA and Special Judge designated under the NIA Act in Srinagar. The case, originally registered in 1990, was transferred to the SIA on March 18, 2024, on the directions of the Director General of Police, J&K.
Investigators said the chargesheet is based on extensive oral, documentary, forensic, ballistic, medical and electronic evidence collected and re-examined during the fresh investigation.
Sarla Bhat, a staff nurse at Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS), was abducted from the vicinity of the hospital on April 18, 1990. The SIA said she was subjected to brutal torture before being shot dead with automatic weapons at Omer Colony, Malbagh, Srinagar.
The agency said the investigation established that the murder was not an isolated act but part of a larger conspiracy orchestrated by the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) to spread fear and terror during the early years of militancy.
The chargesheet names 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. While Sheikh, Sofi and Taploo are deceased, Malik is currently lodged in judicial custody in another case. Proceedings have also been initiated against absconding accused Khurshid Ahmad Chalkoo, who is believed to have exfiltrated to Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
According to the SIA, the investigation found that allegations branding Sarla Bhat as an “informer” were fabricated and used as a pretext for her targeted killing. The agency said the murder formed part of a systematic campaign of terrorist violence intended to spread fear among civilians, particularly the Kashmiri Pandit community, and facilitate their forced displacement from the Valley.
The accused have been chargesheeted under Sections 364, 341, 302, 201 and 120-B of the Ranbir Penal Code (RPC), relevant provisions of the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA), and the Arms Act.
Calling the filing of the chargesheet a historic milestone, the SIA said the investigation reaffirms that no terrorist crime becomes immune with the passage of time and that those responsible for acts of terror will continue to face the law, regardless of the years elapsed.
The agency said the chargesheet represents not only the culmination of a 35-year pursuit of justice but also a tribute to the victim and a strong message that terrorism has no limitation period and perpetrators cannot evade accountability indefinitely.—(NVI)
