Raped, killed, branded an 'informant': Yasin Malik is key accused as Sarla Bhat's case reaches court after 36 years

THe 1990 dishonour and slay of Kashmiri Pandit nurse Sarla Bhat during the betimes years of militancy in Jammu and jammu and kashmir remained dissonant for over three decades.On Monday, the State Investigation Agency filed a 737-page chargesheet against banned JKLF chief Yasin Malik and four others. The document was filed before a designated NIA court, 36 years after the case went cold during the height of militancy in Jammu and Kashmir.ALSO READ | Chargesheet filed against Yasin Malik in 1990 Sarla Bhat rape, murder caseThe Sarla Bhat rape-murder caseSarla Bhat, a young nurse, worked at the Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) in Srinagar.On the night of April 12, 1990, she was returning from the hospital to her hostel inside the SKIMS campus when terrorists allegedly abducted her in a white Maruti car.Investigators say she was held captive, physically tortured and raped before being shot dead. Two to three days later, her abused and bullet-ridden body was found dumped on a road in Srinagar, HT reported earlier.A handwritten note recovered from her body claimed that the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) killed her for allegedly being a "mukhbir" (police informer) for the CID.Investigators have since said they found no evidence that she worked as an informer.According to her family, Bhat was tortured before she was killed. They said her body showed cigarette burn injuries on her wrists and neck, as per a report in The Print.The case became one of the incidents that brought fear among Kashmiri Pandits during the insurgency and allegedly led to the community's exodus from the Valley.ALSO READ | 29 killed in Pakistan's ground ops in Afghanistan day after Karachi terror attackWhy the investigation stalledAn FIR was registered in 1990 under murder, criminal conspiracy and Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act provisions. With militancy at its peak, the investigation made little progress.According to an SIA official, police officers were reluctant to pursue terror cases because of the security situation, and several investigators themselves became targets of terror attacks.As Kashmiri Pandits left the Valley, many such cases gradually went into "cold storage".Investigators later found several gaps in the original probe. Weapons recovered from suspected terrorists were never matched through ballistic examination.The handwriting on the note found with Bhat's body was never analysed, as per investigators. Important interrogation records also reportedly went missing.Witnesses had either died, disappeared or become difficult to trace after more than 30 years.Case reopensIn 2017, the Supreme Court declined to reopen several Kashmiri Pandit murder cases, citing that the mass killings took place over 27 years ago and it was difficult to gather reliable evidence and witnesses, as per a report in The Indian Express.Later, Kashmiri Pandit groups approached Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha. In 2023, he directed the police to prepare a list of killings from the 1990s. The Sarla Bhat case was subsequently transferred to the SIA in March 2024 for a fresh probe.The agency reopened the investigation, carried out raids, examined fresh evidence and eventually filed the chargesheet.ALSO READ | Delhi Red Fort blast: NIA chargesheets terror group founder, two othersThe SIA chargesheetThe agency called the chargesheet a "historic milestone" in the pursuit of justice for victims of terrorism.In a statement, the SIA said the investigation was based on oral, documentary, forensic, ballistic, medical and electronic evidence collected and analysed over the years."The filing of the chargesheet after nearly 35 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 and Kashmir."More importantly, the chargesheet sends a powerful and unequivocal message that time can never become a shield for terrorism. No matter how many years have elapsed, those responsible for terrorist atrocities will continue to remain answerable before the law," the agency said.Who has been named?Apart from Malik, the chargesheet names Khursheed Ahmad Chalkoo, Abdul Hamid Sheikh, Ghulam Mohammad Taploo and Mohammad Yousuf Sofi as accused, HT reported earlier. According to the SIA, Chalkoo is believed to be living in Pakistan after fleeing Kashmir. Three of the accused are now dead, while Malik is in judicial custody in another case.The accused have been booked under several provisions of the Ranbir Penal Code, the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA), and the Arms Act.The SIA said its investigation found that Malik, then the chief commander of the JKLF, and the other accused were involved in planning and carrying out the abduction and killing. It also said proclamation proceedings have begun against absconding accused Khursheed Ahmad Chalkoo, whom investigators identified as the shooter.(With inputs from ANI, PTI, HT correspondents)