The Jammu and Kashmir state investigative agency has reopened the 1990 abduction and murder case of noted Kashmiri Pandit scholar, poet and social activist Sarvanand Kaul Premi and his son Birendra, conducting raids at nine locations on August 12, 2026 (Wednesday). The searches were carried out at six sites in Rajouri district, two in Jammu and one in Kashmir as part of a renewed effort to identify and apprehend those responsible for the killings, which occurred 36 years ago in April 1990.
Premi, a respected figure in Kashmiri literature and education, and his 27-year-old son Birendra were abducted from their home in Chouf Shali, south Kashmir, in April 1990. Contemporary and subsequent reports say both were subjected to brutal torture before their bodies were later recovered. The killings were one of the most harrowing crimes during the early surge of militancy that precipitated the mass exodus of many Kashmiri Pandit families from the valley.
The case was initially registered at Duru police station in Anantnag. Responsibility for the probe was later assumed by the State Investigation Agency (SIA). The family’s long campaign for justice brought the matter to the then Jammu and Kashmir State Human Rights Commission and, following a complaint by another of Premi’s sons, Rajendra, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in 2022 asked the Jammu and Kashmir administration to form a special investigation team to reopen the case. The NHRC also directed that offences such as kidnapping and looting be specifically included in the FIR. In April 2024 the NHRC reviewed the matter and asked the chief secretary to take appropriate action.
The SIA’s renewed operations are part of a broader push to re-examine unresolved cases from the militancy period. In June 2026 the agency filed a 737-page chargesheet naming jailed JKLF leader Yasin Malik and others in the 1990 killing of Kashmiri Pandit nurse Sarla Bhat, highlighting the agency’s recent activity on historic cases.
Investigators face significant hurdles: after 36 years many witnesses are hard to trace, records are incomplete, and some alleged perpetrators may have died. Authorities have not publicly disclosed the identities of the property owners where raids were conducted, and no arrests have been reported so far in relation to the Premi case. Premi’s contributions to Kashmiri literature and social reform were formally recognised in 2021 when the Jammu and Kashmir government posthumously honoured him with the “Jeevanjora Sadhana” award and named a school in Anantnag after him.
Original Source: https://assam.nenow.in/sarwanand-koul-premi-case-reopens-after-36-years-as-kashmirs-state-investigation-agency-conducts-searches-at-nine-locations-on-august-12/
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Publish Date: 2026-08-12 13:05:00
