Butcher of Kashmiri Pandits Stands Trial After 31 Years of Mass Killings

Amid the discussion around The Kashmir Files movie on the plight of Kashmiri pandits, the Srinagar sessions court on Wednesday began the trial of terrorist Bitta Karate. The family of Satish Kumar Tickoo, one of the victims, has moved the court. The court is hearing the case nearly 31 years after Bitta Karate admitted to his "feat" on camera. 

Bitta Karate was arrested in June 1990. Sixteen years later, Karate was released on bail in 2016. He got a rousing welcome in the Kashmir valley and people had organised a procession to celebrate his release. However, he was arrested by the NIA in 2019 under anti-terror laws after the Pulwama attack. 

Under detention, while giving an on-cam interview he said he became a terrorist beause of the harrasment he went through at the hands of local administration. He also admitted to butchering 42 Kashmiri pandits. He claimed he didn't kill "innocent people" as he only followed the orders of Ashfaq Majeed Wani, the then Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) top commander. Wani had sent Bitta and others to Pakistan for terror training. 

Bitta Karate also said his first victim was Satish Kumar Tickoo, a Hindu boy and he merely followed "orders from above" to kill him. "I used pistol to kill from a distance of 20 or 30 yards. Sometimes, I also used AK-47 rifles to fire at the security personnel," he added. 

Following the release of Agnihotri's film, scores of Kashmiri pandit families have come forward to share the horrific details of their sufferings during 1990s when the exodus of Kashmiri pandits took place.

Kashmiri Pandits' killings: Bitta Karate's court hearing adjourned

Read @ANI Story | https://t.co/T6PUyxlwsU#BittaKarate #SatishTickoo #KashmiriPandits pic.twitter.com/45UflXUlZV

— ANI Digital (@ani_digital) March 30, 2022

Earlier, a Kahsmiri Pandit organisation had also moved a curative petition seeking investigation by the CBI or NIA into the mass murders and genocide of Kashmiri pandits during 1989-90 as hundreds of FIRs of murders of Kashmiri pandits remained univestigated by the Jammu and Kashmir police for over three decades. The petitioners have also demanded prosecution of Yasin Malik, Javed Nalka, Bitta Karate and others for the killings.