2 eyewitnesses identify Yasin as shooter in ’90 IAF men killing case

In a major development related to the 1990 killing of four Indian Air Force (IAF) personnel in Srinagar, two key eyewitnesses have identified Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chief Yasin Malik as the main shooter.

Deposing in the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA) court here on Saturday, the eyewitnesses, themselves IAF personnel, also identified three of Malik’s associates — Showkat Ahmed, Saleem and Javed Ahmed — as his accomplices in the killing, sources said.

Interestingly, one of the two eyewitnesses has already identified Malik as the main shooter.

On January 25, 1990, four IAF servicemen, including Squadron Leader Ravi Khanna, were gunned down and several others injured in the Rawalpura area of Srinagar city. Pakistan-backed armed insurgency had begun in the Valley when the shooting took place.

Family members of Khanna and others have been awaiting justice for the past 35 years.

Malik, who attended the hearing through video conferencing, is currently lodged in Delhi’s Tihar jail in a terror funding case. He also faces trial for the 1989 kidnapping of Rubaiya Sayeed, daughter of then Union Home Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed.

The next hearing in the IAF personnel case is slated for November 29.