Srinagar: Three and a half decades after the brutal killing of 27-year-old Kashmiri Pandit nurse Sarla Bhat, the State Investigation Agency (SIA) of Jammu & Kashmir has revived the case, carrying out coordinated searches at eight locations in Srinagar on Tuesday, August 12.
Officials said that the renewed investigation is aimed at uncovering the conspiracy behind her abduction and murder in April 1990, describing it as “justice delayed, but not denied.”
About the Case
A resident of Anantnag, Bhat was employed at the Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) in Soura, Srinagar. In the tense climate of early 1990, as armed militants ordered Kashmiri Pandits to leave the Valley, she refused to abandon her work or her home. Staying at the hospital’s Habba Khatoon Hostel, she continued her duties despite repeated threats.
On April 18, 1990, terrorists linked to the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) abducted her from the hostel. The next day, her bullet-riddled body was found in Umar Colony, Mallabagh, Soura, with a handwritten note falsely branding her a police informer. Her family, already reeling from the loss, faced further intimidation, warned against attending her cremation, they performed the last rites under fear.
Police registered FIR No 56/1990 at Nigeen station, but the investigation was faltered. According to officials, the climate of fear and the unwillingness of witnesses to come forward, coupled with severe constraints on law enforcement during the insurgency’s peak, left the case unsolved.
What Did the Officials Say?
According to News18 sources, Bhat’s murder was part of a broader campaign of targeted killings aimed at forcing Kashmiri Pandits from the Valley. Her open defiance of militant diktats marked her as a target. “She openly challenged JKLF’s threats, refusing to abandon her duty or her home,” one senior investigator told the publication.
Last year, the case was transferred to the SIA on orders from the competent authorities, as part of Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha’s initiative to re-examine unsolved cases of targeted killings from the 1990s.
The latest searches, officials said, yielded “incriminating evidence” that could be crucial in reconstructing the events of April 1990 and identifying those who carried out and planned the attack.
