A sessions court here has reopened the case against Farooq Ahmad Dar, alias Bitta Karate, accused of killing Pandits during the armed insurgency in the 1990s. Acting on a petition of kin of Satish Tickoo, who was shot dead on February 2, 1990 in Habba Kadal locality in Srinagar, the court has listed the case for hearing on April 16.

Pradeep Koul, brother-in-law of Satish Tickoo, said the matter was sub judice so the family won’t comment. “We have full faith in law. The media has already created a hype regarding the issue. We want the things to go as per the law,” he added.

The Kashmir Files movie has brought back the spotlight on the killings and exodus of Kashmiri Pandits. The banned outfit, Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), has been largely blamed, which had sought an independent Kashmir.

Karate as well as Yasin Malik are in Delhi’s Tihar Jail on charges of funnelling funds from Pakistan into terror activities in Kashmir. The NIA arrested Karate in 2017 and Malik in February 2019.

Bitta Karate was initially arrested in 1990. He had admitted on camera to having killed 20 Pandits on the orders of JKLF leaders. He later denied it, saying he gave the statement under duress. In 2006, Karate was released for lack of evidence and “disinterest” of the prosecution.

Advocate Utsav Bains said, “The victim family should get justice. Thirty-one years have passed and the family doesn’t know what happened to the case.”

Karate grew up in Guru Bazar locality of the old city Srinagar, which was a hotbed of militancy in the 1990s. He dropped out of high school, which had many Pandit teachers.

Courtesy: The Tribune India: 31st March , 2022