J&K Police, SIA Raid JKLF-Linked Sites In 1990 Sarla Bhat Murder Probe

The Jammu and Kashmir Police, along with the State Investigation Agency (SIA), raided eight locations in Srinagar during their probe into the 1990 abduction and murder of Kashmiri Pandit nurse Sarla Bhat, reported India TV.

They searched premises linked to Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) leaders, including jailed separatist Yasin Malik.

Sarla Bhat, a resident of Anantnag, worked as a nurse at the Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) in Srinagar. In April 1990, JKLF terrorists abducted her from the institute’s Habba Khatoon Hostel.

They allegedly held her captive for several days, subjected her to gang rape, and brutally murdered her. Her bullet-ridden body was found dumped on a downtown Srinagar street, accompanied by a note branding her a “police informant.”

Investigators link this accusation to her refusal to follow militant orders that Kashmiri Pandits leave the Valley or quit government jobs.

BJP IT cell chief Amit Malviya called the case a defining moment in the 1990 mass exodus of Kashmiri Pandits. “Sarla Bhatt, a young Kashmiri Pandit nurse at the Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences in Srinagar, was brutally murdered in April 1990 during the peak of militancy in Kashmir.

Armed militants abducted her from her workplace, took her to an unknown location, and subjected her to horrific torture. She was gang-raped, mutilated, and killed — her body cut into pieces and dumped to instill terror. Her murder was not just a heinous crime but part of the targeted campaign of ethnic cleansing against Kashmiri Pandits,” he posted on X.

Officials continue to treat her killing as a critical case in documenting atrocities against the Pandit community.

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