Symbolic picture
In Jammu and Kashmir, a shocking incident came to light in the 1990s. When Kashmiri Pandit female nurse Sarla Bhatt was kidnapped and gangraped. He was later murdered. In the 35-year-old case, the State Investigation Agency (SIA) of Jammu and Kashmir Police has raided several places on Tuesday.
Yasin Malik is cutting adjacent to Tihar Jail
The SIA team has raided eight locations in Srinagar. It also includes the house of former head of Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), Yasin Malik, who is currently serving a life sentence in Tihar Jail in Delhi.
Who was Sarla Bhatt?
The 27-year-old Sarla Bhatt was a Kashmiri Pandit from Anantnag district, who was working as a nurse at Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) in Srinagar. In 1990, when terrorism was at its peak in the Kashmir Valley. JKLF issued a decree to Kashmiri Pandits to leave the valley or renounce government jobs.
Terrorists had done kidnap from hostel
Then Sarla Bhatt refused to obey the order and stood on her duty. On 18 April 1990, JKLF terrorists kidnapped him from Habba Khatoon Hostel of Skims. The next day, he was shot dead on 19 April 1990. His mutilated body was found in Omar Colony, Mallabagh, Srinagar. The deceased woman was also gangraped. A note was also found from the body, in which he was described as the informer of the police. According to investigators, Sarla was tortured, gangraped and then murdered.
Target killing against Kashmiri Pandits
The murder was part of the target killing against Kashmiri Pandits, which promoted their collective migration in 1990. At that time FIR (number 56/1990) was registered at the Nigin police station, but the investigation could not proceed due to the atmosphere of terrorism, fear of witnesses and limited ability of the police. In 2023, the Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha administration decided to reopen unresolved terrorist cases of the 1990s, under which Sarla Bhatt’s case has been assigned to SIA. In this case, many locations including Yasin Malik have been raided today.
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