GRP Jammu Arrests 1991 Railway Station Bomb Blast Accused Altaf Hussain Sheikh After 35 Years

Jammu/Srinagar: The Government Railway Police (GRP), Jammu, on Thursday, 13 August 2026, arrested Altaf Hussain Sheikh, an accused who had evaded capture for 35 years in the 1991 bomb blast case at Jammu Railway Station. Police said Sheikh had been living under a concealed identity as a businessman in south Kashmir’s Bijbehara area before being traced and produced before the TADA Court the same day for further proceedings.

The arrest brings to a close a long-running search in one of Jammu and Kashmir’s older militancy-related cases. According to police, the breakthrough came not from a sudden lead but after an intensive two-year effort in which officers carefully verified his identity and residential details before confirming that the man living in Bijbehara was the same person wanted in the blast case.

The 1991 blast at Jammu Railway Station

The case dates back to 2 April 1991, when a bomb exploded on Platform No. 1 of Jammu Railway Station, also referred to as Jammu Tawi. The blast killed three people, including two personnel of the paramilitary forces, and left 18 civilians injured. Following the incident, FIR No. 07/1991 was registered at the GRP Police Station, Jammu, under Sections 307, 302 and 120-B of the Ranbir Penal Code, Sections 3 and 4 of the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act, and Sections 4 and 5 of the Explosive Substances Act.

Police said Aman Ullah Khan was arrested on the day of the blast during the initial investigation. Three other accused, including Altaf Hussain Sheikh, managed to escape and were later declared absconders by the court. Police sources have said Sheikh and his accomplices were involved in carrying out the bombing.

Living under a concealed identity

Sheikh, son of Nazir Ahmed Sheikh and a resident of Marhama-Bijbehara in Anantnag district, went underground after the attack and remained out of reach for decades. Over time, he is said to have built a life in south Kashmir by assuming a hidden identity and presenting himself as a successful businessman in the Bijbehara area.

GRP Jammu said its officers spent the past two years minutely checking his identity and residential particulars. That verification, police said, eventually established that the businessman in Bijbehara was the same man wanted in the 1991 case. His arrest on 13 August 2026 followed soon after that confirmation.

In a statement, police said: “Railway (GRP) Police Jammu arrests an absconding terrorist booked under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act. Altaf Hussain Sheikh… after a long chase of 35 years, initially went underground and was living with a concealed identity for several decades… Long pursuit by the police team brought results, and the accused responsible for the death of innocent persons was arrested and produced before the TADA Court on 13th August 2026 for further legal proceedings.”

Only the second arrest in the case

The arrest is only the second in the 35-year-old case. Aman Ullah Khan remains the only other accused to have been apprehended, and he was caught on the day of the attack. Police said efforts are still under way to trace the remaining accused who were declared absconders. All those named in the case face charges under TADA and related laws.

Why the arrest matters

The case has remained one of the lingering files from the early years of militancy-related violence in Jammu and Kashmir. The 1991 attack took place during a period when public places and security personnel were frequent targets of terror violence. Cases filed under the stringent TADA law from that period often stayed unresolved for years because accused persons disappeared and blended into civilian life under new identities.

Officials said the outcome in Sheikh’s case reflected sustained verification work rather than any single tip-off, pointing to the importance of revisiting old records with persistent investigative effort. With his production before the TADA Court, legal proceedings against him have formally resumed after more than three decades.

Police have not disclosed details about the business Sheikh allegedly ran in Bijbehara or whether anyone helped him remain undetected. Further investigation and court proceedings are expected in the coming days.