Srinagar Court adjourns retrial plea against terrorist Bitta Karate in Kashmiri Hindu Satish Tickoo murder case

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A Srinagar Court on Wednesday adjourned the retrial plea against terrorist Bitta Karate till April 16 filed by the family of a Kashmiri Hindu Satish Tikoo who was allegedly killed by the terrorist in the year 1990. Court also asked Satish Tickoo’s family lawyer to file hard copy of the plea by then.

Farooq Ahmad Dar alias Bitta Karate had allegedly shot dead businessman Satish Tickoo outside his residence in Karfalli locality of Habba Kadal area in Srinagar on February 2, 1990. Karate was arrested on charges of murdering Tickoo and was released on bail without conviction after spending 16 years in jail. Presently, he is lodged in Delhi’s Tihar jail in a case of terror funding.

According to news sources, in the plea, the Tickoo family has urged the court to seek a status report of the investigation and to direct the Investigating Officer (IO) to conduct a “proper, fair and impartial investigation.” The family has also demanded filing of the chargesheet at the earliest.

The petition also prays for the monitoring of the case by the court till the filing of the chargesheet gets completed under Section 156 (3) of CrPC.

“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 states.

The petition, quoting the bail judgment of the TADA court, states, “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.”

“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,” said the petitioner's advocate to a media house.

Notably, in an interview available on a website, Karate has said that he had killed 20 Kashmiri Pandits on the instructions of his bosses in the terror outfit of which he was a part.