35 years after Sarla Bhat's rape-murder, J&K probe agency chargesheets Yasin Malik

The Jammu and Kashmir State Investigation Agency (SIA) is set to file a 737-page chargesheet in the 1990 abduction and killing of Sarla Bhat, alleging the crime was part of a broader JKLF campaign targeting Kashmiri Pandits and marking a major breakthrough in a decades-old terror case.

In Short

• SIA Kashmir to file 737-page chargesheet in Sarla Bhat murder case
• Chargesheet based on decades of evidence including forensic and witness accounts
• Protected witnesses, eyewitnesses and forensic material helped reconstruct the sequence

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.

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).

Sources confirm that the chargesheet establishes offences punishable under Sections 364, 341, 302 read with 34, 201 and 120-B of the IPC, Sections 3(2), 3(3), 4 and 6 of the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act, 1987 (TADA), and Sections 7 and 27 of the Indian Arms Act, 1959.

Evidence collected during the investigation demonstrates that the murder formed part of JKLF's systematic campaign of targeted terrorist violence intended to spread fear among innocent civilians, particularly members of the Kashmiri Pandit community, create conditions for their forced displacement from the Kashmir Valley, and advance the secessionist agenda of the terrorist organisation.

The successful culmination of this investigation after thirty-five years is a powerful reminder that the passage of time does not erase criminal liability.

- Ends