Killing of Kashmiri Pandit woman in 1990: SIA carries out raids

Srinagar: The State Investigation Agency (SIA) of Jammu and Kashmir police on Tuesday carried out raids at several locations in connection with the 35-year-old murder of Kashmiri Pandit woman Sarla Bhat, officials said.

The anti-terror probe agency said its teams searched the residences of multiple individuals, including several former members of the now-banned Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF). Among those whose homes were raided was former JKLF leader Peer Noorul Haq Shah, alias “Air Marshal.”

According to police records, Bhat, a resident of Anantnag, was working in the neonatology ward of Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS), Soura, when she was abducted from the hospital premises on April 16, 1990. She had gone missing from her hostel two days earlier.

Her bullet-riddled body was later found in the Lal Bazar area of Srinagar. Investigators at the time believed she was shot dead by three JKLF militants. The outfit’s chief, Yasin Malik, is currently serving a life sentence in Delhi’s Tihar Jail in connection with other terror-related cases.

The SIA recently revived several long-pending cases from the early years of militancy in Kashmir as part of a broader push to bring closure to crimes committed during the turbulent 1990s. Officials said evidence and witness testimonies in Bhat’s case are being re-examined to identify and prosecute those responsible.

The decision to revisit the case is part of a broader initiative by the Lieutenant Governor's (LG) administration to reopen investigations into killings of Kashmiri Pandits during the early 1990s.