J&K police reopens 33-year-old Pandit judge Neelkanth Ganjoo murder case

Srinagar: The State Investigation Agency (SIA) of Jammu and Kashmir Police on Tuesday, reopened the 1989 murder case of retired Kashmiri Pandit judge Neelkanth Ganjoo and sought information from the public to unearth “the larger conspiracy” behind the killing.

Ganjoo’s daughter Urmila Raina, welcomed the decision to reopen the case nearly 33 years after Ganjoo was shot dead by militants, although she said that the family had no new information to share.

“It has been 34 years. Everyone knows what happened. There is nothing we can tell them that they don’t already know. It is good that this case has been reopened. It should have been opened earlier, but better late than never. We hope that justice will be given to him. We are thankful to the government for reopening the case,” said Raina.

In August 1968, Justice Ganjoo, then a District and Sessions Court Judge, sentenced Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) founder Maqbool Bhat to death for the murder of police inspector Amar Chand in 1966.

The sentence was later upheld by the Supreme Court, and Bhat was hanged in 1984. Ganjoo was shot dead by militants in Srinagar in 1989 and was among the prominent Kashmiri Pandits to be targeted.

"In order to unearth the larger criminal conspiracy behind the murder of retired judge Neelkanth Ganjoo three decades ago, the SIA, through a communique, has appealed to all people familiar with 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 instant case," an official spokesperson said in Srinagar on Monday.

The spokesperson said the identity of all such people will be kept secret and protected, and all useful and relevant information will be suitably rewarded.

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