J&K Agency Reopens 1998 Wandhama Massacre Case, 28 Years On
J&K's SIA has reopened the 1998 Wandhama massacre case, in which 23 Kashmiri Pandits were killed, as part of a broader reinvestigation of such attacks.
Jammu and Kashmir's State Investigation Agency (SIA) has formally reopened the Wandhama massacre case, 28 years after militants killed 23 Kashmiri Pandits in the Ganderbal district of central Kashmir.
The move is part of a broader SIA effort to reinvestigate the killings of Kashmiri Pandits and gather fresh evidence to identify those responsible. A senior SIA official said the agency is treating these decades-old cases as a mission of utmost importance, with efforts focused on uncovering underlying conspiracies and establishing credible evidence based strictly on witness testimony.
The massacre occurred on the night of January 25-26, 1998. A militant group dressed in army fatigues entered Wandhama village, gathered Kashmiri Pandits at one location, and opened fire. The dead included four children and nine women, belonging to four families who had stayed in the Valley after militancy erupted in the early 1990s. Five guests visiting from Jammu were also among the victims.
Police had blamed Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) for the attack. The killings sparked protests by Kashmiri Pandits in Jammu and Delhi. On January 26, 1998, demonstrators in Delhi clashed with police near the National Human Rights Commission, leaving nine protestors injured. Then-Prime Minister I.K. Gujral visited Wandhama to join mourners, accompanied by senior officials.
The Wandhama case is the latest in a series of reopened investigations. The SIA has also revived the case of Tika Lal Taploo, a BJP vice-president and RSS member killed on September 13, 1989, considered the first targeted killing in the Valley.
In 2023, the agency reopened the case of retired judge Neelkanth Ganjoo, killed in Srinagar in 1989. In August 2025, it reopened the case of Sarla Bhat, a nurse abducted and killed in 1990. While progress in Ganjoo's case has been slow, the SIA has filed a chargesheet in Bhat's killing, naming five JKLF operatives, including chief Yasin Malik.