J&K restarts probe into 1998 Wandhama massacre of 23 Kashmiri Pandits
J&K restarts probe into 1998 Wandhama massacre of 23 Kashmiri Pandits
The Jammu and Kashmir State Investigation Agency (SIA) has reopened the investigation into the 1998 Wandhama massacre, in which 23 Kashmiri Pandits were killed, as part of a wider push to pursue long-pending cases of targeted killings during the peak of militancy in the Valley.
The agency has also stepped up its probe into the killing of prominent Kashmiri Pandit leader Tika Lal Taploo and the assassination of Justice Neelkanth Ganjoo, according to sources.
The development comes after the SIA recently reopened the cases of Kashmiri Pandit nurse Sarla Bhat and writer Sarwanand Koul Premi and his son Virender Koul.
Sources said the SIA conducted raids at multiple locations in the Kashmir Valley a few days ago in connection with the Wandhama massacre and Taploo’s killing. Investigators are now working to identify terrorists and those who helped them in the cases and establish their roles in the attacks.
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23 KASHMIRI PANDITS KILLED IN WANDHAMA
Heavily armed terrorists entered the homes of Kashmiri Pandit families in Wandhama village of Ganderbal district and killed 23 people, including nine women and four children on January 25, 1998.
The killings took place on the eve of Republic Day and during the night of Shab-e-Qadr, one of the holiest nights of the Islamic holy month of Ramzan.
The case remained unresolved for decades. The renewed investigation is part of the SIA’s broader effort to revisit militancy-era cases that had remained pending for years.
The agency’s focus on the case follows significant activity in other old Kashmiri Pandit murder cases. In June, the agency filed a 737-page chargesheet in the 1990 murder of Sarla Bhat, naming jailed JKLF chief Yasin Malik as the mastermind.
In August, the agency conducted searches at nine locations in Jammu and Kashmir in connection with the killing of Kashmiri Pandit writer Sarwanand Koul Premi and his son Virender Koul.
TAPLOO, GANJOO CASES ALSO UNDER SCANNER
Tika Lal Taploo, a prominent lawyer and then Jammu and Kashmir BJP vice-president, was shot dead near his residence in Srinagar in September 1989. His killing was among the early targeted assassinations of prominent Kashmiri Pandits during the rise of militancy in the Valley.
The SIA has also intensified its investigation into the killing of Justice Neelkanth Ganjoo, who had sentenced JKLF terrorist Maqbool Bhat to death.
Justice Ganjoo was shot dead by suspected JKLF terrorists at Hari Singh Street in Srinagar on November 4, 1989. His killing came after he had been targeted by militants, including an earlier attack on his residence.
The renewed probes come amid a wider attempt by the state agency to revisit unresolved terror cases dating back to the late 1980s and 1990s. The agency’s recent investigations into the Sarla Bhat and Sarwanand Koul Premi cases have already resulted in significant investigative activity, including the filing of a chargesheet and searches across multiple locations.
According to officials cited in recent reports, the agency is examining several decades-old cases and pursuing leads that could help identify surviving accused, terrorists and their associates.
The latest move brings some of the most prominent unresolved killings of Kashmiri Pandits back under active investigation.