Questions Persist Over Local Collaborators Named in Court Testimonies
Bhaderwah, October 12:
More than two decades after the brutal killing of Sarpanch Sher Mohammad Rather in Changa, Gandoh, a Bhaderwah court has finally delivered justice by convicting Irfan Ali alias Babloo, a resident of Kilhotran, for the murder that symbolized the silencing of democracy during the peak of militancy in the Chenab Valley.
Delivering judgment in State vs. Irfan Ali (Case No. 08/Murder, FIR 57/2002, P/S Gandoh) on October 8, 2025, Principal Sessions Judge Bhaderwah Balbir L. Jaswal found Irfan Ali guilty under Sections 302/34 RPC and 7/27 Arms Act. The court ruled that the evidence presented by the prosecution, especially the testimonies of the slain Sarpanch’s sons — Ashiq Hussain, Mohammad Ramzan, and Muzaffer Hussain — was “direct, consistent and credible,” proving beyond reasonable doubt that Irfan Ali participated in the shooting that killed the village head. Advocate K.K. Bandral, Ld. Public Prosecutor represented for the UT of J&K., while N.K. Gupta, Advocate represented the accused.
The killing occurred on the night of July 4, 2002, when armed men dragged Sher Mohammad from his house and shot him dead in front of his family. Witnesses recalled that Irfan Ali, along with another militant Jan Mohammad alias Hamza, entered the house under the pretext that “Sahab is calling.” Outside waited Tariq Ahmad Mattoo alias Gorkha and three local residents — Jamat Ali s/o Ghulam Rasool, Mohammad Alyas s/o Ahmadoo, and Ghulam Rasool s/o Ahmadoo. Witnesses testified that these locals helped drag the Sarpanch outside and exhorted the militants to shoot him.
“They said they had made him Sarpanch forever,” recounted Ashiq Hussain, Sher Mohammad’s son, during testimony.
The militants opened automatic fire, killing the Sarpanch instantly. Army personnel stationed nearby saw flashes of gunfire but arrived too late; the gunmen had already disappeared into the dense forests of Bhalessa.
Judge Jaswal noted that Irfan Ali could not claim the benefit of doubt simply because co-accused Tariq Mattoo had earlier been acquitted by the J&K and Ladakh High Court in 2022 for lack of direct evidence. “Distinct evidence is apparent against Irfan Ali,” the judgment read.
A significant part of the judgment dwells on the alleged role of local collaborators, particularly Jamat Ali, then a government school teacher at the Government Higher Secondary School, Kilhotran. Witnesses consistently named him as one of those who dragged the Sarpanch and urged the militants to shoot. Despite repeated mentions in court records, he was never arrested or charge-sheeted. Villagers allege that Jamat Ali had close links with militants, though this was never legally established.
Similarly, Mohammad Alyas, another local named in the trial, was alleged to have been present during the killing. Ironically, he later became the Sarpanch of Changa, a move locals described as opportunistic. “The man who watched the murder became Sarpanch — that’s how fear ruled those days,” said a retired Panchayat member.
The investigation and trial of the case were marred by delays and setbacks. In December 2020, a fire at the Bhaderwah court complex destroyed the case file. Acting on High Court order No. 28100/RG/GS dated 18.02.2021, the record was reconstructed using surviving documents and witness copies. Fresh charges were framed in June 2021, and the re-trial commenced.
Over the next four years, eight key prosecution witnesses were re-examined, including the Sarpanch’s sons and Dr. Nizam-Ud-Din Dar, who conducted the postmortem. Dr. Dar testified that Sher Mohammad suffered multiple bullet wounds to the chest and abdomen, leading to hemorrhagic shock and instant death.
The judgment observes that the murder was part of a pattern of militant violence targeting elected village heads during the early 2000s, when Panchayat representatives in the Chenab region were seen as symbols of state authority.
The prolonged legal process took a toll on the victim’s family. They were summoned repeatedly between 2007 and 2023 to testify as witnesses in a case that seemed to drag endlessly through courts and disasters — even surviving the fire that destroyed its records.
“My father died because he stood for democracy,” said Ashiq Hussain after the verdict. “We saw who did it. Some of them are still teaching our children.”
In his 160-page judgment, Judge Jaswal concluded:
“The evidence of eyewitnesses is natural, trustworthy, and consistent with medical and documentary records. The accused Irfan Ali @ Babloo acted with intention and fired upon the deceased, resulting in his death.”
The court convicted Irfan Ali and reserved sentencing for a post break session.
While the verdict finally closes one of the longest-running murder cases in the Bhalessa region, it has also revived painful questions about how local networks aided militancy and how some accused individuals managed to evade accountability and later assume positions of influence.
For Changa village, the conviction is both justice and reminder — justice for a slain Sarpanch who refused to bow before fear, and a reminder that truth, though delayed, can survive fire, terror, and time.
