The Jammu and Kashmir State Investigation Agency (SIA) has reopened its investigation into the 1998 Wandhama massacre, in which 23 Kashmiri Pandits were killed, as part of a wider effort to pursue long-pending cases of targeted killings during the peak of militancy in the Valley.

The agency has also intensified its investigations into the killings of prominent Kashmiri Pandit leader Tika Lal Taploo and Justice Neelkanth Ganjoo. The renewed probes follow recent action in the cases involving Kashmiri Pandit nurse Sarla Bhat and writer Sarwanand Koul Premi and his son Virender Koul.

SIA Conducts Raids In Wandhama, Taploo Cases

Sources said the SIA conducted searches at several locations across the Kashmir Valley a few days ago as part of its investigation into the Wandhama massacre and Taploo’s killing.

Investigators are now working to identify the terrorists and others who allegedly assisted them in the attacks. The agency is also seeking to establish the roles played by those involved in the decades-old cases.

The renewed investigation into Wandhama forms part of a broader effort to revisit militancy-era cases that remained unresolved for years.

23 Kashmiri Pandits Killed In 1998 Massacre

The Wandhama massacre took place on January 25, 1998, when heavily armed terrorists entered the homes of Kashmiri Pandit families in Wandhama village in Ganderbal district.

A total of 23 people were killed in the attack, including nine women and four children. 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 SIA’s decision to reopen the investigation brings the massacre back under active scrutiny as the agency seeks fresh leads and attempts to identify those responsible.

SIA Steps Up Probe Into Other Kashmiri Pandit Killings

The agency’s renewed focus on the Wandhama case follows significant investigative activity in other cases involving Kashmiri Pandit victims.

In June, the SIA filed a 737-page chargesheet in the 1990 killing of Sarla Bhat. The chargesheet named jailed JKLF chief Yasin Malik as the alleged 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.

The SIA is examining several decades-old cases and pursuing leads that could help identify surviving accused, terrorists and their associates, according to officials cited in recent reports.

Taploo And Justice Ganjoo Cases Under Fresh Investigation

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. He had previously been targeted by militants, including an earlier attack on his residence.

The renewed probes are part of the state agency’s wider effort to revisit unresolved terror cases dating back to the late 1980s and 1990s.

With fresh investigative activity in the Wandhama massacre, Taploo and Ganjoo killings, along with the Sarla Bhat and Sarwanand Koul Premi cases, some of the most prominent unresolved killings from the militancy period have returned to the focus of investigators.

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