The Eastern Voice Correspondent

(Riya Palit)

Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir State Investigation Agency (SIA) has filed a chargesheet in the 1990 abduction and murder of Kashmiri Pandit nurse Sarla Bhat, marking a major breakthrough in the 36-year-old case. The chargesheet names jailed former JKLF chief Yasin Malik and four others as accused in connection with the crime.

Sarla Bhat, a 27-year-old staff nurse, was abducted from her hostel in April 1990 during the height of militancy in Kashmir. The case remained unresolved for decades before being reopened by the SIA. Officials say the fresh investigation relied on witness statements, forensic evidence and other material collected during the renewed probe.

The development has renewed hopes of justice for the victim’s family and has once again drawn attention to long-pending cases linked to the violence faced by the Kashmiri Pandit community during the early 1990s.