#JustIn: Eyewitnesses Identify Jailed Separatist Leader Yasin Malik as Shooter in 1990 Srinagar IAF Killings
35 years later, survivors identify jailed separatist as 1990 Air Force assassin.
Two eyewitnesses have directly identified jailed separatist leader Yasin Malik as the primary gunman responsible for the cold-blooded murder of four Indian Air Force Personnel in Srinagar on February 25, 1990. Appearing via video link from Tihar Jail, Malik faced the survivors in a Special TADA court in Jammu, where one witness boldly declared, “Except for your beard style, you haven’t changed much – I have no difficulty recognising you as the main shooter.”
The witness recounted the terror of that morning when armed militants opened fire on unarmed Air Force officers waiting at a traffic signal in Sannat Nagar. Squadron Leader Ravi Khanna and three colleagues were killed, while 22 others sustained bullet injuries. The survivor vividly described how one attacker, identified as co-accused Nanna Ji, aimed an AK-47 directly at him but failed to fire when he shifted position, narrowly escaping death.
During cross-examination conducted by Malik himself, the witnesses remained unflinching, also positively identifying three other accused – Showkat Bakshi, Nanna Ji, and Javed Ahmad – as part of the same terror squad. The court heard harrowing details of officers being gunned down at point-blank range and the frantic efforts to rush the wounded to hospital, only to learn the next day that four had succumbed to their injuries.
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Currently serving a life sentence in a separate terror-funding case, Malik’s virtual appearance marked a critical phase in the 35-year-old trial that has been fast-tracked under strict judicial supervision. Special Public Prosecutor SK Bhat presented the testimony as compelling evidence, bringing long-awaited accountability for one of Kashmir’s earliest targeted attacks on Indian security forces.
With cross-examination of key witnesses now permitted and the next hearing scheduled for November 29, the case represents a significant step toward justice for the families of the fallen airmen. The proceedings have reignited focus on unresolved crimes from the violent early phase of the Kashmir insurgency, as the judiciary moves decisively to close a painful chapter after more than three decades.
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