JAMMU: Several old cases of terrorism going back decades are being taken up by the State Investigation Agency (SIA) of the Union Territory (UT) of J&K. Two cases which drew a lot of media attention in the recent past were those pertaining to Sarla Bhat and Sarvanand Kaul Premi & his son. The cases pertaining to cold blooded killings of these Kashmiri Pandits (Kps) in the Kashmir valley being re-opened and taken up by the SIA has surprised many.
In sharp contrast, the file pertaining to the killings of Darshan Singh (40), Yogesh Singh (32) and Varun Singh (15), last year in Billawar tehsil of Kathua district is not traceable in the SIA records. The bodies of these people were found in Ishu canal in the upper reaches of Malhar area of Billawar with the help of drones. They had apparently been killed by terrorists operating in the area.
The SIA had earlier filed chargesheets in the cases pertaining to Sarla Bhat murder case of 1990, the police have conducted multiple raids. In the cases pertaining to killings of poet Sarvanand Koul Premi and his son Virender Koul too, the agency has been trying to gather fresh evidence and leads.
Wandhama massacre, , Thaploo killings
After these two infamous cases, the SIA has shifted its focus towards the killings of Judge Neelkanth Ganju, BJP leader Tika lal Thaploo and Wandhama massacre of Kashmiri Pandits. Judge Ganju had ordered death sentence for Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) terrorist Maqbool Bhat and in Wandhama massacre, 23 Kashmiri Pandits (including nine women and four children) were massacred on January 25, 1998.
Judge Neelkanth Ganju was killed by the terrorists at Hari Singh Street in Srinagar on November 4, 1989, while Tika Lal Taploo, who was then State vice president of the BJP, was gunned down at his house in Srinagar on September 13, 1989.
According to officials, there has been significant breakthrough in some of the cases which have been reopened after three to three and half decades. The SIA teams have succeeded in identifying terrorists, Over Ground Workers (OGWs) and others involved in the killings though some of them have died over a period of time. Some of the accused are alive and may be arrested though some of them have gone into hiding after reopening of the cases.
District police also invoved in most cases
The district police under whose jurisdictions the killings took place is also involved in these investigations. Reviving cold cases dating back decades is a new type of challenge which the investigation agencies are dealing with.
The SIA had filed a detailed chargesheet before a Special Court in Srinagar in connection with the 1990 abduction and killing of nurse Sarla Bhat who was abducted on April 18, 1990 and later her body with torture marks was found.
On August 13, the SIA had conducted raids at nine places in connection with the killings of Premi and his son. The raids were conducted at Gambhir Mugalan in Rajouri district, Jammu and Baramulla.
