Yasin Malik, 5 Others Charged For Killing Sarla Bhat After 35 Years; How Her Murder Became Landmark Kashmir Terror Case

More than three decades after the abduction and murder of Kashmiri Hindu nurse Sarla Bhat, one of the most brutal crimes during the early years of militancy in Kashmir, the case has witnessed a breakthrough. 

The State Investigation Agency (SIA) of Jammu and Kashmir has filed a 737-page charge sheet, naming five terrorists, including former JKLF chief Mohammad Yasin Malik, and describing the killing as part of a planned conspiracy to terrorise Kashmiri Hindus and force their migration from the Valley.

SIA Names Five Accused in 737-Page Charge Sheet

According to the SIA, the investigation has identified the involvement of Mohammad Yasin Malik, Khurshid Ahmed Chalaku, Abdul Hamid Sheikh, Mohammad Yusuf Sofi alias Idris, and Ghulam Mohammad Taploo. Of them, Abdul Hamid Sheikh, Mohammad Yusuf Sofi, and Ghulam Mohammad Taploo are dead, while Yasin Malik is currently serving a life sentence in Delhi's Tihar Jail in terror funding and terrorist activity cases.

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Malik is also facing trial in the Rubaiya Sayeed kidnapping case and the 1990 killing of four Indian Air Force personnel. Meanwhile, the SIA has initiated proclamation proceedings against absconding accused Khurshid Ahmed Chalaku, who is believed to have fled to Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK).

Abducted From SKIMS, Body Found the Next Day

Sarla Bhat, a staff nurse at SKIMS, Soura, was abducted near the hospital on April 18, 1990. Investigators said she was subjected to severe torture and physical abuse before being shot dead with an automatic rifle in Umar Colony, Mallabagh, Srinagar. Her bullet-riddled body was recovered the following day. The incident remains one of the most horrific crimes committed during the initial phase of terrorism in Kashmir.

Investigation Reopened After 34 Years

The case remained unresolved for decades as witnesses were unwilling to come forward due to fear during the peak of militancy. On March 18, 2024, the Director General of Police transferred the case to the SIA for a fresh probe.

The agency reconstructed the sequence of events using statements of protected witnesses, eyewitness accounts, forensic and ballistic reports, medical evidence, documentary records, electronic evidence, and extensive field investigation before filing the 737-page charge sheet.

'Informer' Allegation Was Fabricated: SIA

The SIA investigation concluded that allegations branding Sarla Bhat as a police informer were entirely false and fabricated. According to the agency, the claim was used by the terrorists only to justify a pre-planned murder.

The charge sheet states that the killing was not an isolated act but part of a broader conspiracy orchestrated by the JKLF to create fear among civilians, particularly the Kashmiri Pandit community, and facilitate their exodus while advancing the organisation's separatist agenda.

All accused have been booked under Section 364, 341, 302, 201 and 120 B of RPC along with TADA Act and Arms Act. 

The charge sheet, filed 35 years after the incident, sends a clear message that the passage of time can’t protect perpetrators of terrorism, the agency said, noting that the move will go a long way in getting justice to terror victims, particularly the members of the Kashmiri Pandit community.

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Fresh Push in Decades-Old Terror Cases

The charge sheet is also being viewed as a significant development in efforts to investigate killings and atrocities committed against Kashmiri Hindus during the 1989-90 insurgency.

Although the Supreme Court rejected petitions in 2017 seeking a fresh probe into the killings, citing the difficulty of gathering evidence after nearly three decades, the Jammu and Kashmir administration began reviewing pending terror cases from the 1990s in 2023 under the direction of Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha.

As part of that exercise, several old cases, including the Sarla Bhat murder case, were reopened. While hundreds of such cases remain pending, the filing of the charge sheet is being seen as a major milestone in the long-pending pursuit of justice for the Kashmiri Hindu community.

(With Jagran.com Inputs)