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Crime
Jammu & Kashmir Restarts Probe into 1998 Wandhama Massacre of 23 Pandits
✍️ India Today
🗓 24 Aug 2026, 01:18 PM
👁 2
The Jammu & Kashmir administration has reopened the investigation into the 1998 Wandhama massacre that claimed the lives of 23 Kashmiri Pandits.
The government of the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir announced that it is reviving the probe into the Wandhama incident of 1998, where gunmen killed 23 Kashmiri Pandits in the village of Wandhama, Ganderbal district.
The decision follows renewed calls from victims' families and human‑rights groups for accountability. The original investigation, launched soon after the killings, was later closed without any convictions.
Officials said the new inquiry will be overseen by the state's Crime Investigation Department and will re‑examine forensic evidence, witness statements and any leads that were previously overlooked. The probe aims to identify those responsible and bring them to justice.
The reopening has been welcomed by Pandit community representatives, who view it as a step toward closure after decades of impunity. The central government has expressed support for the effort.
No arrests have been reported yet, and the investigation is expected to take several months. The case remains a painful reminder of the sectarian violence that plagued Kashmir in the late 1990s.
The decision follows renewed calls from victims' families and human‑rights groups for accountability. The original investigation, launched soon after the killings, was later closed without any convictions.
Officials said the new inquiry will be overseen by the state's Crime Investigation Department and will re‑examine forensic evidence, witness statements and any leads that were previously overlooked. The probe aims to identify those responsible and bring them to justice.
The reopening has been welcomed by Pandit community representatives, who view it as a step toward closure after decades of impunity. The central government has expressed support for the effort.
No arrests have been reported yet, and the investigation is expected to take several months. The case remains a painful reminder of the sectarian violence that plagued Kashmir in the late 1990s.