Kashmir Impulse Desk
Srinagar, Aug 12
The State Investigation Agency conducted searches at nine locations across the Union Territory on Wednesday as part of a renewed investigation into the 1990 killing of Kashmiri Pandit poet, writer and social worker Sarwanand Koul Premi and his son Virender Koul.
The searches come more than 36 years after the father and son were abducted and killed during the height of violence in the Kashmir Valley.
The case was initially registered at Dooru police station in Anantnag and was later taken over by the SIA, an investigative arm of the J&K Police.
Officials said Wednesday’s operation was intended to gather evidence about the circumstances of the killings, identify those allegedly involved and examine the wider conspiracy surrounding the crime. Searches were conducted at multiple locations in both the Jammu region and Kashmir.
Authorities did not disclose the identities of the people whose premises were searched or say what documents or other material, if any, had been recovered.
Premi and his son were abducted from their home in Soaf Shali village in Kokernag in 1990. They were subsequently tortured and killed.
Their murders became one of the prominent cases involving the targeted killing of members of the Kashmiri Pandit community during the early years of the insurgency in Kashmir.
Officials familiar with the searches said investigators were examining the broader circumstances of the crime, including the possible role of people who may have assisted the perpetrators.
The latest operation is part of efforts to pursue cases that remained unresolved for decades, in part because of difficulties in identifying or locating suspects.
The SIA has also recently intensified its investigation into the 1990 killing of Kashmiri Pandit nurse Sarla Bhat, who was abducted and murdered in April that year.
