J&K Police reopens 34-year-old murder case of Kashmiri Pandit judge

Retired Judge Neelkanth Ganjoo was assassinated after he had sentenced to death JKLF founder Maqbool Bhat in 1968 for his role in the killing of Jammu and Kashmir police inspector Amar Chand.

Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir): The Jammu and Kashmir police have decided to reopen a 34-year-old long-dormant murder case of a retired Judge Neelkanth Ganjoo, a Kashmiri Pandit. Ganjoo sentenced Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) founder Maqbool Bhat to death in 1968.

On Monday, J&K police's State Investigation Agency (SIA) said that in order to unearth the larger criminal conspiracy behind the murder of the retired Judge, Neelkanth Ganjoo three decades ago, it appeals to all persons familiar with the facts or circumstances of this murder case to come forward and share any account of events which has a direct or indirect bearing on the investigation of the case.

The SIA further assured that the identity of all such persons shall be kept confidential and protected, and all useful and relevant information shall be suitably rewarded.

Judge Neelkanth Ganjoo, serving as a Sessions Court judge in Srinagar, had sentenced to death JKLF founder Maqbool Bhat in 1968 for his role in the killing of Jammu and Kashmir police inspector Amar Chand. The Supreme Court upheld the verdict in 1982, leading to Bhat's hanging in the Tihar Jail in New Delhi on February 9, 1984.

The murder of Neelkanth Ganjoo in broad daylight on the Hari Singh High Street here in 1989 had caused fear to grip the Kashmiri Pandit community and the subsequent escalation of violence had led to their migration towards Jammu.

This was the second high-profile killing of a Kashmiri Pandit in the Valley, following the assassination of BJP leader Tika Lal Taploo. The SIA also intends to revisit other unsolved murder cases of Kashmiri Pandits that occurred between 1989 and 1990, marked by the eruption of militancy in the region.

Earlier this year, in May, the SIA arrested two suspects in connection with the assassination of Moulvi Muhammad Farooq, the father of Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaz Umar Farooq. Moulvi Farooq was tragically killed by militants in his home in Nigeen, Srinagar, on May 21, 1990.