Yasin Malik virtually appears before court in air force officials attack case

Jammu: Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chief Yasin Malik on Wednesday appeared virtually before a special court in the 1990 killing of four Air Force personnel. He is currently serving a life sentence in Delhi's Tihar Jail in a terror financing case.

Senior advocate S K Bhat, on behalf of the prosecution, said Malik is the main accused among the 10 accused in the case. The special Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act court issued the production warrant to the CBI for cross-examining witnesses in the case on October 23.

On September 21, the court issued a production warrant for Malik's physical presence during the cross-examination of witness V K Sharma, but Tihar jail authorities said his travel to Jammu was not possible. The response said the Delhi High Court has awarded him a life sentence in the NIA case and ordered not to move him outside the capital city.

Bhat said Malik was offered legal aid, but he refused.

Malik, the head of Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), and six others are accused of killing four unarmed IAF personnel including Squadron Leader Ravi Khanna, on January 25, 1990, at Rawalpora in Srinagar. The CBI filed a charge sheet before the TADA court in Jammu on August 31, 1990.