The Jammu and Kashmir State Investigation Agency (SIA) on Tuesday raided eight locations across central Kashmir while investigating the 1990 killing of Kashmiri Pandit nurse Sarla Bhat.
The raids were part of the SIA's renewed efforts to solve the decades-old murder case. The agency took over the investigation last year, as the original police probe, registered as FIR No. 56/1990 at Nigeen Police Station, had gone cold without identifying the perpetrators.
Among the residences searched was that of Peer Noorul Haq Shah, a former JKLF leader also known by the alias 'Air Marshal'. According to the SIA, the raids yielded 'incriminating evidence', including both physical documents and digital data.
This evidence, according to investigators, will be essential in revealing the plot behind Bhat's murder. Decades after the crime was committed, the agency's investigation of this case demonstrates the administration of Jammu and Kashmir's dedication to prosecuting those behind 'heinous terror acts.'
This evidence, according to investigators, will be essential in revealing the plot behind Bhat's murder. Decades after the crime was committed, the agency's investigation of this case demonstrates the administration of Jammu and Kashmir's dedication to prosecuting those behind "heinous terror acts".
The murder of Sarla Bhat
On April 18, 1990, 27-year-old Sarla Bhat was kidnapped from the Habba Khatoon Hostel at the Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) in Soura, Srinagar. Anantnag-based and a nurse at SKIMS, Bhat had been known for defying militant orders that called for Kashmiri Pandits to abandon their government jobs and leave the Valley.
Her body was later found in Umar Colony, Mallabagh, in downtown Srinagar. A note left with her body identified her as a "police informant" because she had been shot several times. Her family was warned not to attend her cremation and was threatened after her murder.
This horrific act took place at the height of the Kashmir insurgency, when terrorist organisations supported by Pakistan deliberately targeted the Pandit community in Kashmir in an effort to instill fear and force their mass exodus.
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The 1990 Exodus of Kashmiri Pandits
One of the numerous acts of terror that led to the Kashmiri Pandit community's mass departure from the Valley in early 1990 was the murder of Sarla Bhat. The JKLF and Hizbul Mujahideen, two militant groups supported by Pakistan, planned a terror campaign. During this campaign, prominent Pandits were targeted for murder, families were threatened via mosque loudspeakers, and Pandit homes were marked for potential future attacks.
Mosques throughout the region broadcast slogans demanding "Nizam-e-Mustafa" (Islamic rule) and threatened to execute Pandits unless they fled or converted to Islam. To instill fear, terrorists also distributed hit lists, threatened to kidnap women, and carried out ruthless murders. Almost 3 to 4 lakh Kashmiri Pandits fled their homes as a result of this organised campaign of terror, taking sanctuary in Jammu, Delhi, and other Indian cities.
Also Read: 35 years of Kashmiri Pandit exodus; an identity staring at extinction
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