Yasin Malik named mastermind in 1990 rape-murder of Kashmiri Pandit nurse: A look back at what happened

THirty-six years after the unrelenting ravish and bump off of Kashmiri Pandit nurse Sarla Bhat, the say investigating agency (SIA) of Jammu and Kashmir filed a chargesheet on Monday before a special TADA (Terrorist and Disruptive Activities) court in Srinagar, naming proscribed Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chief Mohammad Yasin Malik, then the outfit’s “chief commander,” and Khurshid Ahmad Chalkoo as the masterminds behind the crime.A senior police officer said that the exhaustive investigation had concluded, and the 737-page chargesheet was submitted before the court.The chargesheet said that the murder was not an isolated act of violence but part of a larger, institutionalised conspiracy orchestrated by the JKLF.The group targeted violence against the minority Kashmiri Pandit community to orchestrate their systematic, forced displacement from the Valley, said an SIA spokesperson.Co-conspirator believed to be in PoKAccording to police records, co-conspirator Chalkoo of Uri (Baramulla), who allegedly pulled the trigger, was currently absconding and believed to be staying in Pakistan-occupied Jammu & Kashmir (PoJK). Proclamation proceedings have been initiated against him.The three other JKLF militants allegedly involved in the execution—identified as Abdul Hamid Sheikh, Mohammad Yousuf Sofi (alias Idrees), and Ghulam Mohammad Taploo—are dead.Yasin Malik is currently serving a life sentence in Delhi’s Tihar Jail on separate terror-funding convictions.Also Read: Raped, killed, branded an 'informant': Yasin Malik is key accused as Sarla Bhat's case reaches court after 36 yearsThe SIA, while mentioning the contents of the chargesheet, said that the investigation conclusively established that the killing was not an isolated act of violence but part of a larger terrorist conspiracy orchestrated under the command and control of the JKLF. “The investigation has revealed the involvement of Mohammad Yaseen 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 Yaseen Malik is presently in judicial custody in another case.Legal proceedings, including proclamation proceedings, have been initiated against absconding terrorist Khurshid Ahmad Chalkoo (man who pulled the trigger), who is believed to have exfiltrated to Pakistan-occupied Jammu & Kashmir,” said the chargesheet.Murder, criminal conspiracy among charges framedThe chargesheet established offences of murder and criminal conspiracy punishable under Sections 364, 341, 302 read with 34, 201 and 120-B of the Ranbir Penal Code (RPC), 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 Arms Act, 1959.“The investigation has further established that the allegation portraying Sarla Bhat as an “informer” was entirely false and constituted a fabricated pretext employed by terrorists to justify a premeditated assassination.Also Read: Yasin Malik’s fresh claims: Secret talks with RSS, shankaracharyas and ex PMsEvidence collected during 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 charge sheet added.Abduction, sexual assault, then murderSarla Bhat, a 27-year-old staff nurse working at the Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) in Soura, was abducted from her hostel on April 15, 1990.She was subjected to physical torture and sexual assault in captivity before being shot dead.Her body was dumped in Malbagh, Srinagar, along with a JKLF note falsely branding her a “mukhbir (informer).”For over three decades, the case languished unresolved due to intimidation, violence, and enforced silence during the peak of militancy.The momentum shifted on March 18, 2024, when J&K director general of police Nalin Prabhat transferred the case to the SIA.As part of the renewed investigation, the SIA launched coordinated raids at eight locations across Srinagar district last year, targeting properties and residences linked to former JKLF operatives.A police spokesperson said at the time that the searches under FIR No. 56/1990, registered at Nigeen police station, yielded critical incriminating forensic and documentary evidence, allowing investigators to reconstruct the three decade-old conspiracy.A similar push is underway for the 1989 assassination of retired judge Neel Kant Ganjoo, who was shot dead in a Srinagar market.