Why was young nurse Sarla Bhat killed in Srinagar? 36 years on, chargesheet offers answers

The case was transferred to the SIA on March 18, 2024, under the orders of the J&K DGP.

The accused in the case include Malik, who is currently in judicial custody in another case, and Khurshid Ahmad Chalkoo, who is absconding and believed to have exfiltrated to Pakistan-Occupied Jammu and Kashmir. Three other accused, Abdul Hamid Sheikh, Mohammad Yousuf Sofi alias Idrees, and Ghulam Mohammad Taploo, are no more.

“The ocular evidence, medical and ballistic findings, recovery of the terror claim note, electronic evidence, witness testimonies and surrounding circumstances form a coherent and compelling chain of evidence proving that the killing was not an isolated act but part of JKLF’s systematic campaign of targeted violence against the Kashmiri Pandit community intended to spread terror and facilitate their forced exodus from the Kashmir valley,” the chargesheet is learnt to state.

The investigation established that Bhat was abducted on April 18, 1990, and subjected to physical assault and torture before being shot dead by a rifle by four JKLF-affiliated terrorists “under the directions of Yaseen Malik”.

Police have stated that the incident “formed part of JKLF’s organised campaign of targeted killings against members of the Kashmiri Pandit community with the objective of creating terror, compelling mass migration and advancing its secessionist agenda.”

The investigators relied on protected witness testimony, independent eyewitness accounts, memos, site identification, medico-legal evidence, multiple firearm entry and exit wounds, extensive internal injuries and signs of physical torture to establish the charges.

The recovery of a note from the scene, wherein JKLF claimed responsibility for the killing, was also examined. While the “CFSL New Delhi could not conclusively attribute the handwriting to any particular individual,” the police stated that the note is “independently corroborated” by contemporaneous media reports published immediately after the incident.

According to the SIA, evidence also revealed that JKLF “falsely portrayed Sarla Bhat as an informer,” allegedly responsible for the security forces’ raid at Narwara on April 8, 1990, during which several JKLF terrorists were apprehended and Mohammad Yaseen Malik reportedly sustained injuries while escaping. The investigation concluded that this allegation was “merely a pretext” used to justify an already planned targeted killing.

A report compiled by the Jammu and Kashmir Police in 2008 on the basis of a survey of its own cases revealed that from 1989 onwards, militants had killed 209 Kashmiri Pandits – 109 of them in 1990 alone. Kashmiri Pandit groups say that the number is higher.