State Investigation Agency submits extensive charge sheet after reviving decades-old probe into nurse Sarla Bhat’s killing
Indian authorities have filed a fresh charge sheet against Kashmiri leader Mohammad Yasin Malik in connection with the 1990 killing of nurse Sarla Bhat in Srinagar, according to Indian media reports published on Monday.
Malik, chairman of the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), has remained in custody on separate terrorism-related charges for more than four years. The newly filed case follows the reopening of an investigation that had remained dormant for decades.
India’s State Investigation Agency (SIA) named Malik among five accused in a 737-page charge sheet submitted after conducting a renewed investigation into the killing. The agency said it relied on oral testimony, documentary records, forensic findings, ballistic analysis, medical evidence and electronic material gathered during the probe.
Decades-old investigation revived
The investigation was reportedly reopened after former Lieutenant Governor of Indian-administered Kashmir Manoj Sinha directed authorities to review unresolved killings from the 1990s following requests from local groups.
The Sarla Bhat case was transferred to the SIA in March 2024 for a fresh investigation. Earlier, in 2017, India’s Supreme Court declined to reopen several cases involving the killings of Kashmiri Pandits, citing the passage of time and the difficulty of obtaining reliable evidence and witnesses.
Besides Malik, the charge sheet names Khursheed Ahmad Chalkoo, Abdul Hamid Sheikh, Ghulam Mohammad Taploo and Mohammad Yousuf Sofi. According to Indian media reports, three of those named have since died.
Legal proceedings expected to continue
Malik remains lodged in Tihar Jail in connection with separate cases. Authorities have not announced a trial date in the newly filed case.
The filing of the charge sheet marks another development in the investigation of unresolved incidents from the insurgency period in the early 1990s. The allegations contained in the charge sheet are expected to be examined during future court proceedings, where the accused will have the opportunity to respond through the legal process.
