A major breakthrough has emerged in the decades-old investigation into the 1990 attack on Indian Air Force personnel in Jammu and Kashmir, after a key eyewitness identified separatist leader Yasin Malik during proceedings at a special TADA court in Jammu. The witness, an Air Force serviceman who survived the ambush and served alongside those killed, testified on Friday that he could clearly recognise Malik among the accused involved in the assault. This identification injects new momentum into a case that has remained under judicial examination for more than thirty years.
The attack, carried out on January 25, 1990, in Srinagar’s Rawalpora area, is considered one of the defining early acts of terrorism that accelerated the insurgency in the Kashmir Valley. A group of Air Force personnel waiting for a bus was ambushed by militants believed to be affiliated with the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF). The gunmen opened fire on the unarmed officers, killing four—including Squadron Leader Ravi Khanna—and injuring 22 others. The brutality of the attack marked a turning point, escalating insurgent violence in the region.
Yasin Malik, the head of the now-banned JKLF, was charge-sheeted by the CBI in August 1990. In 2020, the special TADA court found sufficient grounds to presume Malik’s involvement in the attack, further tightening legal scrutiny around him. Malik, now 53, is currently lodged in Tihar Jail after being convicted in a separate terror-funding case investigated by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and sentenced to life imprisonment.
During earlier hearings, Malik claimed he had abandoned armed struggle in 1994 and had since embraced non-violence, even describing himself as a follower of Gandhian principles. However, Friday’s eyewitness identification is expected to play a significant role in the continuation of the trial, reinforcing the prosecution’s case in one of the longest-pending terror matters in the country.
