The State Investigation Agency (SIA) of the Jammu and Kashmir Police on Wednesday conducted simultaneous searches at nine locations across the Union Territory as part of its renewed probe into the abduction and murder of noted Kashmiri Pandit poet, writer and social activist Sarwanand Kaul “Premi” and his son, Virendra Kaul.
The searches were carried out in connection with FIR No. 45/1990, originally registered at Duru Police Station in Anantnag district and now being investigated by the SIA. Officials said six locations were searched in Rajouri district, two in Jammu, and one in the Kashmir Valley.
According to officials familiar with the investigation, the searches targeted individuals and properties suspected to have links with the conspiracy behind the decades-old double murder. Investigators are also working to identify those involved in the killings, trace possible accomplices, and recover evidence that could help establish the circumstances of the crime.
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The case dates back to 1990, a turbulent period marked by violence and targeted killings that led to the mass displacement of the Kashmiri Pandit community from the Valley. Sarwanand Kaul “Premi,” a respected litterateur, scholar and freedom fighter from Sof-Shali village in the Kokernag area of Anantnag, was abducted along with his 27-year-old son, Virendra, from their home during the night of April 29–30, 1990.
Their bodies were recovered on May 1, 1990, found hanging from a tree nearly 20 kilometres from their residence. The killings came to symbolise the brutal violence inflicted on the Kashmiri Pandit community during that period.
For years, the investigation saw little visible progress. The case was subsequently taken up for reinvestigation following directions from the Union Ministry of Home Affairs concerning unsolved cases of violence against minorities dating back to that era.