Yasin Malik To Face Trial After 35 Years In Sarla Bhat Rape-Murder Linked To Kashmiri Pandit Exodus

Last Updated:June 29, 2026, 16:52 IST

Nurse Sarla Bhat's murder formed part of an organised campaign of targeted killings directed against the Kashmiri Pandit community by Yasin Malik's JKLF.

Nearly 35 years after the abduction, rape and murder of Kashmiri Pandit nurse Sarla Bhat shook the Valley during the early months of 1990, the Jammu and Kashmir State Investigation Agency (SIA) on Monday filed a 737-page chargesheet naming JKLF chief Mohammad Yasin Malik as the alleged mastermind behind the crime.

Filed before the TADA Court in Srinagar, the chargesheet alleges that the killing was not an isolated act of terror but part of a wider campaign of targeted violence carried out by the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) against the Kashmiri Pandit community in 1990 to spread fear and facilitate its mass exodus from the Valley.

According to the SIA, the investigation reconstructed the nearly three-and-a-half-decade-old case through protected witness testimonies, forensic and ballistic evidence, documentary records, electronic evidence and contemporaneous material, enabling investigators to formally bring the case to trial.

The agency alleges that Sarla Bhat, a nurse in the Neonatology Department at SKIMS Soura, was abducted on April 18, 1990, after finishing duty at the hospital. She was allegedly taken to the Illahibagh-Lal Bazar area, where she was assaulted, tortured and later shot dead. Her body was recovered the following day on the Mallabagh-Omer Colony Road in Srinagar.

The chargesheet names Mohammad Yasin Malik, who was then the Chief Commander of the JKLF, as the principal conspirator who allegedly directed the operation.

Besides Malik, the investigation identifies Khurshid Ahmad Chalkoo, who is alleged to have fled to Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir and remains absconding, along with Abdul Hamid Sheikh, Mohammad Yousuf Sofi alias Idrees and Ghulam Mohammad Taploo, all of whom are now deceased, as participants in the alleged conspiracy.

As Malik is currently serving concurrent life sentences in New Delhi’s Tihar Jail after his 2022 conviction in a terror-funding case, he attended the proceedings before the Srinagar TADA Court through video conferencing.

Case Reopened After Nearly 35 Years

The case, originally registered as FIR No. 56/1990 at Police Station Nigeen under provisions of the IPC and TADA, had remained unresolved for decades amid the violence and witness intimidation that marked the peak of the insurgency.

The SIA says it reopened the investigation by recording statements of protected witnesses under Sections 161 and 164 CrPC, reconstructing the crime scene, conducting fresh forensic examinations and tracing individuals associated with JKLF activities in the Soura-Lal Bazar area during 1990.

According to the agency, eyewitnesses consistently identified Sarla Bhat in the company of the accused shortly before her abduction and described the manner in which she was allegedly dragged away, assaulted and killed.

Evidence Cited By SIA

The prosecution case relies on multiple strands of evidence, including protected witness statements, independent eyewitness accounts, medico-legal findings documenting firearm injuries and alleged torture, ballistic examination of cartridge cases recovered from the scene and electronic evidence.

The SIA also cited the recovery of a handwritten JKLF claim note from the crime scene. While forensic experts could not conclusively attribute the handwriting to any individual, investigators say the document is corroborated by contemporaneous media reports and other evidence collected during the investigation.

The agency has further relied on an authenticated televised interview of Farooq Ahmad Dar alias Bitta Karate, which it says supports the existence of an organised JKLF command structure responsible for targeted killings during that period.

SIA Links Killing To Kashmiri Pandit Exodus

One of the most significant conclusions recorded in the chargesheet is the SIA’s finding that the rape and murder formed part of an organised campaign of targeted killings directed against the Kashmiri Pandit community.

According to the agency, the objective was to spread terror, compel large-scale migration from the Valley and further the JKLF’s separatist agenda.

The investigation also states that JKLF had accused Sarla Bhat of acting as an informer for security forces following a raid at Narwara on April 8, 1990, during which several JKLF militants were arrested and Yasin Malik allegedly sustained injuries while escaping. The SIA contends that this accusation served merely as a pretext for an already planned targeted killing.

Charges

The chargesheet invokes offences under Sections 364, 341, 201, 302 read with Section 34 and Section 120B of the IPC, multiple provisions of the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA), and Sections 7 and 27 of the Arms Act.

The trial is expected to proceed before the designated TADA Court in Srinagar, marking the first time in nearly 35 years that the investigation into Sarla Bhat’s killing has reached the stage of prosecution.

About the Author

Manoj Gupta

Group Editor, Investigations & Security Affairs, Network18

News india Yasin Malik To Face Trial After 35 Years In Sarla Bhat Rape-Murder Linked To Kashmiri Pandit Exodus

Read More