Raids in J&K in 1990 Kashmiri Pandit murder case; Read how poet-scholar Sarwanand Koul Premi and his son were brutally murdered
On the intervening night of April 29-30, Koul and his son were dragged out of their home and abducted by terrorists in Kokernag, Anantnag. The next day, their bodies were found hanging from a tree, with deep, visible wounds of torture.
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More than 35 years after Kashmiri Pandit poet-scholar Sarwanand Koul Premi and his son Virender Koul were abducted from their home and killed, the State Investigation Agency (SIA) Kashmir carried out a coordinated operation on Wednesday, August 12, raiding nine locations across the Valley in a fresh attempt to trace their killers and any accomplices still evading arrest.
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Wednesday's operation follows closely on another recent development. In June 2026, the SIA filed a 737-page chargesheet naming jailed JKLF chief Yasin Malik as the key conspirator behind the 1990 abduction, torture, and murder of SKIMS nurse Sarla Bhat, a case that had lain dormant for 34 years before being revived. Bhat, among the last Kashmiri Pandit women still on duty as the Valley descended into unrest, was abducted near her workplace and later tortured and killed at Omer Colony, Malbagh, on April 18, 1990.
The killings of Premi and Bhat were not isolated incidents but part of a wider, deliberate pattern. Starting in January 1990, a series of targeted assassinations of prominent Kashmiri Pandits followed in quick succession, among them lawyer Tikka Lal Taploo, sitting High Court judge Justice Neelkanth Ganjoo, and Doordarshan broadcaster Lassa Kaul, each intended to spread fear and drive the community out of the Valley.
Community groups estimate that between 1,500 and 2,000 Kashmiri Pandits lost their lives in the years following 1989, though no official comprehensive record exists, a gap often attributed to years of inaction by successive state governments. More than half a million members of the community were eventually displaced, making it one of independent India's largest internal migrations. Pandit organisations have long called for a formal inquiry commission into the killings and displacement, with several describing the events as amounting to ethnic cleansing.
The searches spanned nine sites in Jammu and Kashmir, six in parts of Rajouri district, two in Jammu, and one in Kashmir, tied to an FIR originally filed at Dooru Police Station in Anantnag, which the SIA has since taken over as part of its broader investigation into unresolved killings from the militancy era targeting the Kashmiri Pandit community. Officials involved in the operation said the raids focused on individuals and properties suspected of links to the conspiracy behind the 1990 abductions, though precise locations and any material recovered have not yet been made public.
Premi and his son, who lived in Soaf Shali village in Kokernag, Anantnag, were seized from their home in 1990, subjected to torture, and shot dead, with their bodies later discovered hanging from a tree, an incident that shook the Valley and came to symbolise the terror campaign that forced the region's minority Hindu community into exile. Premi's death carried added significance given his standing, he was a celebrated poet and scholar who had devoted decades to promoting national integration and communal harmony, and had earlier participated in India's freedom struggle, making his killing an assault on a long-standing voice for unity.
For years, the case sat unresolved, with key details about the conspiracy, those responsible, and the motive behind the killings remaining unknown. The SIA's renewed investigation has now yielded a major breakthrough, uncovering the wider conspiracy and naming the alleged perpetrators along with their associates. It has also pieced together the sequence of events behind the abduction, including how it was executed and how Kashmiri Pandit civilians were allegedly singled out and killed as part of a larger campaign of terror.
1990 Double-Murder Case | The State Investigation Agency (SIA) in Kashmir conducted searches at nine locations across Jammu and Kashmir in connection with FIR No. 45/1990, registered at Police Station Dooru, Anantnag, and now under investigation by the SIA. More details awaited
— ANI (@ANI) August 12, 2026
What happened in 1990?
Sarwanand Koul Premi, at that time, was a school headmaster and a renowned litterateur. He felt that his family would not be "touched" due to the goodwill that he enjoyed in society, Koul's eldest son recalled in 2022 in an interview with India Today.
However, on the intervening night of April 29-30, Koul and his son were dragged out of their home and abducted by terrorists in Kokernag, Anantnag. The next day, their bodies were found hanging from a tree, with deep, visible wounds of torture. Their eyes were gouged out, and nails were hammered into their foreheads, reportedly at the spot where they had applied a tilak. A few days later, the family left Kashmir forever for Delhi.
The tragic night was recalled by Koul's elder son, Rajinder, during his 2022 interview. "There was a heavy downpour that night... The men rampaged through the house, desperately searching for something," he recalled. Rajinder said they took his father to meet their "commander". His younger brother, who was recently married and had a child, also tagged along with him.
At that time, Kashmiri Pandits were seen as government informers or accused of hiding the Army's weapons. "But we had faith in my father's goodwill. We never imagined being targeted... To our horror, the next morning their dead bodies were found," he further said.
However, on the intervening night of April 29-30, Koul and his son were dragged out of their home and abducted by terrorists in Kokernag, Anantnag. The next day, their bodies were found hanging from a tree, with deep, visible wounds of torture. Their eyes were gouged out, and nails were hammered into their foreheads, reportedly at the spot where they had applied a tilak. A few days later, the family left Kashmir forever for Delhi.
The tragic night was recalled by Koul's elder son, Rajinder, during his 2022 interview. "There was a heavy downpour that night... The men rampaged through the house, desperately searching for something," he recalled. Rajinder said they took his father to meet their "commander". His younger brother, who was recently married and had a child, also tagged along with him.
At that time, Kashmiri Pandits were seen as government informers or accused of hiding the Army's weapons. "But we had faith in my father's goodwill. We never imagined being targeted... To our horror, the next morning their dead bodies were found," he further said.
Wednesday's operation follows closely on another recent development. In June 2026, the SIA filed a 737-page chargesheet naming jailed JKLF chief Yasin Malik as the key conspirator behind the 1990 abduction, torture, and murder of SKIMS nurse Sarla Bhat, a case that had lain dormant for 34 years before being revived. Bhat, among the last Kashmiri Pandit women still on duty as the Valley descended into unrest, was abducted near her workplace and later tortured and killed at Omer Colony, Malbagh, on April 18, 1990.
The killings of Premi and Bhat were not isolated incidents but part of a wider, deliberate pattern. Starting in January 1990, a series of targeted assassinations of prominent Kashmiri Pandits followed in quick succession, among them lawyer Tikka Lal Taploo, sitting High Court judge Justice Neelkanth Ganjoo, and Doordarshan broadcaster Lassa Kaul, each intended to spread fear and drive the community out of the Valley.
Community groups estimate that between 1,500 and 2,000 Kashmiri Pandits lost their lives in the years following 1989, though no official comprehensive record exists, a gap often attributed to years of inaction by successive state governments. More than half a million members of the community were eventually displaced, making it one of independent India's largest internal migrations. Pandit organisations have long called for a formal inquiry commission into the killings and displacement, with several describing the events as amounting to ethnic cleansing.