36 Years after Kashmiri Hindu Sarla Bhat’s Murder, J&K SIA set to file chargesheet against five JKLF terrorists

Srinagar: More than 36 years after the abduction and murder of Kashmiri Hindu Sarla Bhat, the Jammu and Kashmir State Investigation Agency (SIA) is set to file a chargesheet against five terrorists of the banned Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) based on fresh evidence.

 

According to the investigation, the SIA has identified five JKLF terrorists as being responsible for the crime. Of them, three have died, one is currently in custody, while another is absconding.

 

According to reports, they include Mohammad Yasin Malik, who was the then Chief Commander of the JKLF, Khurshid Ahmad Chalkoo, Abdul Hamid Sheikh, Mohammad Yousuf Sofi alias Idrees, and Ghulam Mohammad Taploo. Of the five accused, Abdul Hamid Sheikh, Mohammad Yousuf Sofi (Idrees), and Ghulam Mohammad Taploo have died. Yasin Malik is currently lodged in Tihar Jail, where he is serving a life sentence in a separate terror funding case. Khurshid Ahmad Chalkoo is believed to have escaped to Pakistan-occupied Jammu Kashmir and remains absconding.

 

 

Investigators said the killing was intended to spread fear among the minority Kashmiri Hindu community. According to the SIA, the motive was to create panic and force Kashmiri Hindus to flee the Valley.

 

The late 1980s and early 1990s witnessed a wave of targeted attacks on Kashmiri Hindus. Terrorists issued threats through posters and mosque loudspeakers, warning them to leave Kashmir or face dire consequences.

 

These acts of terror led to the mass exodus of Kashmiri Hindus from the Valley in 1990. Tens of thousands of families left their homes and migrated to Jammu and other parts of the country.

 

Sarla Bhat, a 27 year-old nurse working at Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS), was abducted by JKLF terrorists on April 18, 1990, from the nurses hostel at SKIMS in Soura, Srinagar. She was last seen alive at around 2:30 pm on the same day.

 

According to the investigation, she was kidnapped, brutally tortured and later murdered. Her bullet riddled body was dumped in downtown Srinagar, sending shockwaves across the Valley.

 

The filing of the chargesheet is a major step forward in one of the most brutal and long pending terror related case that remained unresolved for over 36 years. Investigators say fresh evidence has helped identify those involved in the abduction and murder of Sarla Bhat. The SIA is now expected to submit the chargesheet before the court.