SIA files chargesheet against five, Including JKLF chief Yasin Malik, accused in 1990 SKIMS nurse murder case

STC NEWS DESK
SRINAGAR, JUNE 29 (STC): The State Investigation Agency (SIA) has filed a chargesheet in the 1990 abduction and murder of SKIMS nurse Sarla Bhat, naming jailed JKLF chief Mohammad Yasin Malik and four others as accused in the nearly 35-year-old case, officials said here today.
The 737-page chargesheet was submitted before the court of the Additional Sessions Judge, TADA/POTA and Special Judge under the NIA Act in Srinagar, they said.
Sarla Bhat, a staff nurse at Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS), was allegedly abducted near the hospital on April 18, 1990. Investigators alleged she was tortured before being shot dead in Srinagar’s Malbagh area the same day.
The case was transferred to the SIA by the Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Police on March 18, 2024, following which the agency reopened the investigation.
Officials said the chargesheet is based on witness statements, documentary records, forensic and ballistic reports, medical evidence, electronic material and field investigation conducted after the case was revived.
Besides Malik, the accused named in the chargesheet are Khurshid Ahmad Chalkoo, Abdul Hamid Sheikh, Mohammad Yousuf Sofi alias Idrees and Ghulam Mohammad Taploo.
According to the SIA, Sheikh, Sofi and Taploo have since died, while Malik is lodged in judicial custody in another case. Proceedings have been initiated to declare Chalkoo a proclaimed offender as he is alleged to have fled to Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
The chargesheet invokes provisions of the Ranbir Penal Code, including those related to murder, abduction, criminal conspiracy and destruction of evidence, along with sections of the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA), 1987, and the Arms Act.
The SIA said the investigation reconstructed the sequence of events with the help of protected witnesses, eyewitness accounts, forensic examination, medical records and documentary evidence.
The agency also said allegations that Bhat was working as an informer were not substantiated during the investigation and were allegedly used as a pretext for her killing.
According to the SIA, the murder formed part of a larger campaign aimed at creating fear during the early phase of militancy in Kashmir and contributed to the displacement of members of the Kashmiri Pandit community.
The agency said filing the chargesheet marked a significant step in pursuing justice in one of the Valley’s long-pending terror cases and reaffirmed its commitment to investigating unresolved terror-related offences irrespective of the passage of time.
(Straight Talk Communications I Source KNS)