Police nab Indian Army–backed terrorist in decades-old Nishat murder case
Srinagar: Police in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir have arrested an Indian Army–backed terrorist in Pulwama district, marking a major breakthrough in a decades-old case.
According to Kashmir Media Service, Muhammad Maqbool Sheikh of Tral was taken into custody in Pampore in connection with FIRs registered at Police Station Nishat, Srinagar, for the 1996 kidnapping and killing of contractor Ali Muhammad Mir of Brein Nishat. The crime was carried out alongside the now-deceased Papa Kishtwari, a notorious terrorist and Indian Army-supported gunman responsible for widespread terror in the territory.
Authorities said Maqbool Sheikh’s arrest comes nearly 30 years after the incident, which involved abduction, illegal confinement, and murder, and remained unresolved due to the complicity of state-backed insurgents. The victim’s body has never been recovered. Police confirmed that further interrogation is underway to recover additional evidence and corroborate witness statements recorded over the years.
Ghulam Muhammad Lone, alias Papa Kishtwari, had been a former CRPF junior officer turned leader of an Indian Army-supported militia. He was linked to the killings of over 150 civilians and activists, abductions, extortion, and systematic disposal of bodies to evade justice. Local residents long remembered him as a symbol of state-sponsored impunity.
The arrest has renewed hope for accountability in a case that has haunted the victim’s family for decades, highlighting the persistent legacy of Indian Army-backed terror networks in occupied Kashmir.
