- The last accused in the 1991 Jammu Railway Station blast has been arrested after 35 years
- Altaf Hussain Sheikh lived under a fake identity as a businessman in South Kashmir
- The blast killed two paramilitary personnel and one civilian on April 2, 1991
A 35-year wait for justice has ended with the arrest of the last absconding accused in the 1991 bomb blast at Jammu Railway Station in which three people died and 18 were injured.
The terrorist has been identified as Altaf Hussain Sheikh, son of Nazir Ahmed Sheikh and a resident of Marhama-Bijbehara in Anantnag. He was living under a fake identity as a businessman in South Kashmir.
Arrested from Anantnag earlier this week, he was produced in court and a case under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act was filed against him.
On April 2, 1991, Sheikh and his accomplices triggered an explosion on Platform No. 1 of the Jammu Railway Station. The blast claimed the lives of two paramilitary personnel and one civilian.
During the initial investigation, one of the accused men, Aman Ullah Khan, was arrested. The remaining three, including Sheikh, fled and were later declared proclaimed offenders by a special court.
Two years ago, the Government Railway Police started a fresh drive to locate him. After an intensive manhunt and meticulous verification of identity and residential records, investigators traced Sheikh to Bijbehara, where he had been living under an assumed name.
With this arrest, the Railway Police have closed the chapter on one of the Union Territory's oldest pending terror cases.
"The arrest underscores a simple principle that justice may be delayed, but it will not be denied. The long arm of the law eventually catches up," said a senior GRP officer.
The government has been reopening and reinvestigating old terror cases that include the 1990 killing of Kashmiri Pandit and poet-scholar Sarwanand Koul Premi. A poet, journalist, research scholar, Gandhian, social reformer and independence activist, he and his son Virender Koul were abducted from their home in 1990, tortured and shot dead.
Sources said the killers have been identified.
The list also includes the 1990 kidnap, rape and killing of nurse Sarla Bhat in Srinagar city.
