Jailed chief of the proscribed outfit Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), Yasin Malik to face fresh legal trouble as the State Investigation Agency (SIA) today filed a 737-page chargesheet in the 1990 abduction and murder of Kashmiri Pandit nurse Sarla Bhat.
Filing of chargesheet by the SIA marked another major development in the reopening of one of the Kashmir Valley’s most high-profile terror-era cases.
The SIA has charged five JKLF terrorists, including former self-styled chief commanders Mohammad Yasin Malik of Maisuma Srinagar and Abdul Hamid Sheikh of Dandarkhah Batmaloo Srinagar, involved in the kidnapping and killing of the SKIMS Soura nurse Sarla Bhat in April 1990.
While three of the accused— Abdul Hamid Sheikh, Ghulam Mohammad Taploo, and Mohammad Yousuf alias Idrees— have died on different occasions in the last 35 years. Malik, along with his former terrorist colleague Khursheed Ahmad Chalkoo are being charged with a chargesheet to face trial.
According to official details, the chargesheet has been submitted before the Court of the Additional Sessions Judge, TADA/POTA, and the Special Judge designated under the NIA Act, Srinagar. The case pertains to the abduction and murder of Sarla Bhat, who was employed as a nurse at Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) and was killed on April 18, 1990.
The investigation was transferred to the SIA by the Director General of Police, Jammu and Kashmir, on March 18, 2024, after which the agency conducted a detailed probe.
Officials said the chargesheet is based on oral testimonies, documentary records, forensic and ballistic reports, medical evidence, electronic material, and extensive field investigations collected and analysed during the course of the investigation.
The SIA stated that filing the chargesheet nearly 35 years after the incident marks an important step in pursuing justice in one of the Valley’s long-pending terror cases. The agency said the investigation demonstrates that serious terror-related offences continue to be investigated irrespective of the passage of time.
According to the investigation, Sarla Bhat was allegedly abducted near SKIMS on April 18, 1990, subjected to torture, and later shot dead in the Omer Colony area of Malbagh, Srinagar. The agency said the case remained unresolved for decades due to the prevailing security situation and an atmosphere of fear that discouraged witnesses from coming forward.
Following the reopening of the case, investigators reconstructed the sequence of events with the help of protected witnesses, eyewitness accounts, forensic analysis, medical records, and documentary evidence, the SIA said.
The SIA further stated that proclamation proceedings have been initiated against Khurshid Ahmad Chalkoo, who is alleged to have fled to Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
According to the chargesheet, offences have been invoked under Sections 364, 341, 302 read with 34, 201, and 120-B of the Ranbir Penal Code (RPC), relevant provisions of the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA), 1987, and Sections 7 and 27 of the Indian Arms Act, 1959.
The agency has pointed out that the murder formed part of a broader campaign intended to spread fear and facilitate the displacement of members of the Kashmiri Pandit community during the early years of terrorism.
Sarla Bhat, a 27-year-old nurse from Anantnag, was abducted on April 18, 1990, from the Habba Khatoon Hostel of the Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS), Soura. Her bullet-riddled body was recovered the following day from Umar Colony, Mallabagh, on the outskirts of Srinagar.
At the time, a note purportedly left by the JKLF described her as an “informer” for the security forces. Although the Jammu and Kashmir Police registered a case and conducted an investigation, those responsible for the killing were never brought to justice.
Following the reopening of the case, the SIA carried out searches at multiple locations in August 2025 and re-examined evidence, witnesses, and other material collected during the investigation.
According to investigators, the murder took place days after Yasin Malik, then a senior JKLF terrorist commander, was injured while allegedly escaping from a security cordon in downtown Srinagar. He was reportedly treated secretly at SKIMS, prompting security forces to conduct searches at the hospital.
Malik was later arrested in August 1990 from the residence of businessman Zahoor Watali in the Baghat Barzulla area of Srinagar, where arms and ammunition were also recovered, according to police records.
Yasin Malik is already facing trials in other terror-related cases.
The impending chargesheet is expected to add to Malik’s mounting legal challenges. The terrorist leader is already serving a life sentence after being convicted in a terror funding case by a Delhi court in 2022 under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and other provisions of law.
Apart from the terror funding conviction, Malik is also facing trial in several other high-profile terror-related cases. These include the 1990 killing of four Indian Air Force personnel in Srinagar, in which several others were injured, and the abduction of Rubaiya Sayeed, daughter of former Union Home Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, in December 1989.
The Rubaiya Sayeed kidnapping is widely regarded as a turning point in the onset of terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir after the government released jailed militants in exchange for her freedom.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is prosecuting the Indian Air Force personnel killing case and the Rubaiya Sayeed kidnapping case, has been pursuing Malik’s physical production before the trial court through video conferencing and other legal means, as he remains lodged in Tihar Jail.
Officials said the filing of the chargesheet in the Sarla Bhat murder case is expected to pave the way for judicial proceedings in another case linked to the early years of terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir, reflecting the administration’s renewed focus on investigating unresolved terror crimes from the 1990s.
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