More than three decades after the brutal abduction, rape and murder of Kashmiri Pandit nurse Sarla Bhat, investigators have taken a major step forward by filing a charge sheet against five militants of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF).

The State Investigation Agency (SIA) on Monday submitted a 737-page charge sheet before a Special TADA Court in Srinagar, detailing evidence in one of the most gruesome targeted killings of the early insurgency period in Jammu and Kashmir.

The charge sheet names former JKLF commander Yasin Malik as the alleged mastermind behind the crime. The four other accused are Khursheed Ahmad Chalkoo, Abdul Hamid Sheikh, Mohammad Yusuf Sofi alias Idris, and Ghulam Mohammad Taploo. Of the five accused, three have died, Chalkoo is believed to have fled to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), while Yasin Malik is currently serving a life sentence in Delhi’s Tihar Jail in a terror-funding case.

According to the SIA, the murder was part of a systematic campaign of targeted killings carried out by the JKLF in 1990 to instill fear among the Kashmiri Pandit community and force them to flee the Kashmir Valley.

Sarla Bhat, a nurse at Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS), was abducted on April 18, 1990, while returning home after completing her duty at the hospital. Investigators allege that she was taken to the Ilahibagh-Lal Bazar area of Srinagar, where she was subjected to prolonged torture and sexual assault before being brutally murdered.

Her bullet-riddled body was recovered five days after the abduction, sending shockwaves through the Valley during one of the most turbulent phases of the insurgency.

The charge sheet is based on extensive evidence collected by the SIA, including eyewitness testimonies, witness statements, forensic findings, official records, electronic evidence and a documented interview of former JKLF militant Bitta Karate, which investigators have cited as an important piece of evidence.

The agency said the case had remained unresolved for decades because eyewitnesses and witnesses were allegedly intimidated and threatened by militants, making it difficult for investigators to gather evidence and prosecute those responsible.

The filing of the charge sheet marks a significant development in the long-pending case and is expected to pave the way for further legal proceedings before the Special TADA Court. Authorities maintain that the investigation has established sufficient evidence linking the accused to the abduction, sexual assault and murder of Sarla Bhat, one of the most tragic crimes committed against the Kashmiri Pandit community during the 1990 insurgency.