Yasin Malik Named in 36-Year-Old Sarla Bhat Murder Case

Sarla Bhat was a nurse who worked at the Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences in Srinagar. One night in April 1990 she was going back to her hostel when some terrorists took her away in a car. The State Investigation Agency says that she was kept captive, beaten and killed.

Her body was found on a road in Srinagar a days later

There were bullet wounds and signs of torture on her body. A note found near her body said that the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front had killed her because she was a police informer.. The investigators did not find any proof that she was working with the police.

The investigation into the Sarla Bhat case stopped a time ago. This was because it was a dangerous time in Jammu and Kashmir. Many police officers were being targeted by terrorists. Some witnesses. Disappeared over the years. The investigators also found that some important evidence was missing.

The case was reopened in 2023

This happened because some Kashmiri Pandit organizations asked for it. The Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir Manoj Sinha told the authorities to look into some cases again. The Sarla Bhat case was given to the State Investigation Agency in March 2024.

The agency did some investigations and found some new evidence. They filed a chargesheet against some people.

The State Investigation Agency has named Yasin Malik and four other people in the chargesheet. Yasin Malik was the chief of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front at that time. The agency says that he planned and carried out the crime. One of the people named in the chargesheet is Khursheed Ahmad Chalkoo. The agency says that he was the one who shot Sarla Bhat.

The State Investigation Agency says that filing the chargesheet is a step towards justice. The agency says that it does not matter how much time has passed, people who commit crimes will be punished.

The Sarla Bhat case is a sad incident from the early years of militancy in Jammu and Kashmir. Now the court will decide what to do. The Sarla Bhat case is an important case. The Sarla Bhat case is back in the news, after years.