SRINAGAR: A city-based court has agreed to hear a petition seeking a report on the progress of the investigation against former JKLF terrorist Bitta Karate in the murder case of Kashmiri Pandit Satish Tickoo.
Farooq Ahmad Dar alias Bitta Karate had shot dead businessman Satish Tickoo outside his residence in Karfalli locality of Habba Kadal area in Srinagar on February 2, 1990.
The court of Judicial Magistrate, Srinagar will hear the petition filed by Tickoo’s brother (name withheld) on March 30, 2022. New Delhi-based lawyer Utsav Bains will represent the Tickoo family in the court.
In their application, the Tickoo family has urged the court to seek a status report of the investigation, direct the Investigating Officer (IO) to conduct a “proper, fair and impartial investigation” and file the charge sheet at the earliest. The petition also seeks monitoring of the case by the court till the filing of the charge sheet under Section 156 (3) of CrPC.
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Speaking to The New Indian, advocate Bains said that the family was not aware of the progress of the case against Karate.
“There is a lot of mystery surrounding this case. My client has no knowledge of the status of the investigation. In a video interview, Karate himself had admitted to killing Satish Tickoo. We hope that the family will get justice,” he said.
Karate was arrested on charges of murdering Tickoo and was released on bail without conviction after spending 16 years in jail. “After Bitta Karate’s arrest, the prosecution agency did not conduct proper investigation/prosecution. It is stated that neither the applicant nor any other family member was ever contacted or called by the police for the purpose of the investigation, verification etc,” the plea reads.
The petition, quoting the bail judgment of the TADA court, stated, “The court is aware of the fact that the allegations against the accused (Karate) are of serious nature and carry a punishment of death sentence or life imprisonment but the fact is that the prosecution has shown total disinterest in arguing the case.”
In an interview, Karate said he had killed 20 Kashmiri Pandits on the instructions of his bosses in the terror outfit. Bitta Karate is presently lodged in Delhi’s Tihar jail in a case of terror funding.
Director Vivek Agnihotri’s recently-released ‘The Kashmir Files’ movie features the story of the murder of Satish Tickoo and the terror that Karate unleashed in the Valley in 1990.