Srinagar, Jun 29: The State Investigation Agency (SIA) on Monday filed a 737-page chargesheet before a special TADA/POTA court in Srinagar, naming jailed JKLF chief Yasin Malik as the alleged mastermind behind the abduction and killing of SKIMS nurse Sarla Bhat in April 1990.
According to the chargesheet, Sarla Bhat, a staff nurse at Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS), was abducted on April 18, 1990, from near the hospital, tortured and later shot dead. The SIA alleges the killing was part of a criminal conspiracy by JKLF militants aimed at spreading fear among the Kashmiri Pandit community and facilitating their exodus from the Valley.
Besides Malik, the chargesheet names Khurshid Ahmad Chalkoo as the alleged shooter, along with Abdul Hamid Sheikh, Mohammad Yousuf Sofi alias Idrees and Ghulam Mohammad Taploo. The latter three are deceased, while Chalkoo is stated to have fled to Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
The SIA said its investigation, taken over in March 2024, relied on witness testimonies, forensic and ballistic analysis, documentary and electronic evidence to reconstruct the three-decade-old case.
Police have invoked charges including murder, abduction, criminal conspiracy and destruction of evidence under the erstwhile Ranbir Penal Code, besides provisions of the TADA and Arms Act.
The agency said the investigation has also generated fresh leads in other unresolved killings of Kashmiri Pandits during the early years of militancy.
