SIA Kashmir Carries Out Raids Across J&K in 1990 Kashmiri Pandit Double Murder Case

The State Investigation Agency (SIA) Kashmir on Wednesday conducted searches at nine locations across Jammu and Kashmir as part of its ongoing investigation into the 1990 killing of Kashmiri Pandit writer and social worker Sarwanand Koul Premi and his son, Virender Koul. The case was initially registered at Dooru Police Station in Anantnag and was subsequently taken over by the SIA for further investigation. The killings date back to a period of intense militancy in the Kashmir Valley.

According to officials, armed militants abducted Premi and his 27-year-old son from their home in Soaf Shali, Kokernag, Anantnag, on the night of April 29, 1990. Their bodies were discovered hanging from a tree two days later, on May 1. The incident has remained one of the cases associated with the violence faced by the Kashmiri Pandit community during the early years of militancy.

The latest searches are being seen as a significant development in the long-pending investigation. The SIA is examining available evidence and attempting to establish the circumstances surrounding the abduction and murders. Officials have so far not disclosed the identities of the suspects, details of the locations searched or whether any material was recovered during Wednesday’s operations. Further information is expected once the searches and examination of evidence are completed.

The development follows Counter-Intelligence Kashmir (CIK) operations conducted on August 8 across Anantnag, Shopian and Baramulla districts. During one search in Hiller Shahabad, Anantnag, officials reportedly seized two digital devices from a residential property. That operation was connected to FIR No. 03/2023 registered at Police Station CIK Kashmir under Sections 153A and 505 of the IPC and Sections 13 and 18 of the UAPA. The SIA’s latest action highlights renewed efforts to pursue long-pending cases linked to the violence of the 1990s in Jammu and Kashmir.