The Jammu and Kashmir Police filed a chargesheet on June 29 naming JKLF chief Yasin Malik and four others in the 1990 murder of Kashmiri Pandit nurse Sarla Bhat.
The State Investigation Agency submitted the 737-page chargesheet in a special court in Srinagar. It names Malik along with Khurshid Ahmad Chalkoo, Abdul Hamid Sheikh, Mohammad Yousuf Sofi alias Idrees and Ghulam Mohammad Taploo. Three of the accused are dead. The agency said the document establishes that Bhat’s killing was part of a larger conspiracy by the JKLF.
Malik, who is serving life sentences in Tihar jail, faces charges under the Ranbir Penal Code, TADA and the Indian Arms Act. Chalkoo remains at large. Police described the filing as a landmark step in addressing legacy terror cases.
Bhat’s family expressed disappointment. Cousin Prediman Krishan Bhat said the action came much too late and questioned its relevance now.
