Our Bureau
Srinagar
The Sarla Bhat murder case that shook the whole valley around 35 years ago, the whole valley of Kashmir is seeing a new turn in it. The State Investigation Agency (SIA) on Tuesday, August 12th, as part of their investigation, carried out raids in several different locations in Central Kashmir to find out more information regarding the case.
The 27-year-old Kashmiri Pandit woman in April 1990 went missing from her hostel at the Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences in Soura. After some searches were carried out, her dead body was later found in downtown Srinagar.
The SIA, who had recently taken over the investigation of the murder case dating back more than 35 years, carried out several searches in the central regions of the valley. These searches were carried out at the homes of individuals who were formerly linked to the now banned Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF).
As per the reports that have come out, there were several different locations which were searched by the SIA as part of their probe. Among those residences was the residence of former JKLF leader Peer Noorul Haq Shah, also known as the “Air Marshal”.
Sarla Bhat, just 27 years of age, was employed as a nurse at the Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) in Srinagar’s Soura area. She was a resident of the Anantang district but at that time was staying at the hostel of the institute.
The woman was kidnapped from the hostel in April and the next day her dead body was found along a road in the Malbagh area of Srinagar, fully riddled with bullets. This murder became a huge case as the investigators believed that this heinous crime was part of a larger plan to force the Kashmiri Pandit community out of the valley. Sadly, the killers of Sarla Bhatt have still not been found after 35 years of her death.
