Sarla Bhat killing: Yasin Malik, 4 JKLF operatives named in chargesheet as case reaches court after 36 years
PTC News Desk: A 737-page chargesheet filed by the Jammu and Kashmir State Investigation Agency (SIA) has named jailed JKLF chief Yasin Malik as the alleged mastermind behind the 1990 abduction, torture and murder of SKIMS nurse Sarla Bhat.
According to the chargesheet, Sarla Bhat, a staff nurse at the Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences, was abducted on April 18, 1990, near the hospital in Srinagar. Investigators allege that she was tortured and later shot dead with an automatic rifle in Omer Colony, Malbagh. She was among the last Kashmiri Pandit women who continued working in the Valley during a period marked by rising militancy and fear.
On June 29, 2026, the SIA submitted the chargesheet before a special TADA/POTA court in Srinagar, accusing Malik, who was then the chief commander of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), of ordering the killing.
The filing is being seen as a major development in the investigation of long-pending terror-related crimes in Jammu and Kashmir. Investigators say it reflects renewed efforts to pursue accountability in cases linked to the violence and targeted killings that occurred during the early years of militancy in the Valley.
The case was originally registered in 1990 under charges including murder, criminal conspiracy and provisions of the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA). However, with militancy at its peak, the investigation made little progress for decades.
In 2017, the Supreme Court of India declined to reopen several cases involving the killings of Kashmiri Pandits, noting that more than 27 years had passed and that gathering reliable evidence, locating witnesses and conducting meaningful trials had become extremely difficult.
- With inputs from agencies
