Archive · 15 Aug 2026
Poet's 1990 killing: family awaits justice as SIA revives probe
Thirty-four years ago, a poet named Sarwanand Koul Premi and his grown-up son were taken from their home in Kashmir in the middle of the night by armed men.
The men killed them, and the family had to leave their beautiful big house and move far away to stay safe.
Premi and his son were Kashmiri Pandits, and their killing happened during a very violent time in Kashmir in 1990.
The family asked the government to find out who did this and to keep its promises of help.
Many leaders and governments promised an official inquiry, land, and money, but none of those promises came true.
A special police team called the State Investigation Agency, or SIA, has now started looking at this old case again.
This week, the SIA searched nine different places in Jammu and Kashmir to find new clues.
The searches are part of a bigger effort to reopen old cases of Kashmiri Pandits who were hurt or killed at that time.
For the Koul family, this gives them hope that they will finally get answers and justice after all these years.
Kashmiri Pandit poet, journalist and freedom activist Sarwanand Koul 'Premi' and his 27-year-old son Virender Koul were abducted and killed by militants in April 1990.
Their bodies were found hanging from a tree in a forest about 20 km away, allegedly bearing marks of torture.
The State Investigation Agency (SIA) carried out searches at nine locations across J&K this week, launching fresh investigations into the killings.
Now 70, surviving son Rajinder Koul has pursued a long legal battle linked to his father's and brother's killings for 34 years.
The family says governments at the Centre and in J&K promised land, compensation and a CBI inquiry, none of which materialised, and they have never returned to their ancestral home in Anantnag.
- Who
- Sarwanand Koul 'Premi', a Kashmiri Pandit poet, journalist and freedom activist, and his 27-year-old son Virender Koul, who were killed by militants in 1990; his now-70-year-old son Rajinder Koul has sought justice; the State Investigation Agency (SIA) is now investigating.
- What
- The SIA conducted searches at nine locations across Jammu and Kashmir, launching fresh investigations into the two killings as part of a revival of high-profile cold cases involving the targeted killings of Kashmiri Pandits in 1990.
- When
- The abduction and killing happened in April 1990 — the article cites the killing on the night of April 30 and also references militants entering the home on the night of April 29; the SIA searches took place this week, 34 years later.
- Where
- Kokernag, Anantnag district, Jammu and Kashmir; the bodies were found hanging from a tree in a forest some 20 km away.
- Why
- Militants targeted Premi's family during the peak of militancy in 1990, and the family says promises of justice were never fulfilled; the SIA is now reviving the cold case.
- Victims
- Sarwanand Koul 'Premi', poet/journalist/freedom activist, and his 27-year-old son Virender Koul
- Date of Killing
- April 30, 1990 (article also mentions abduction on the night of April 29)
- Location
- Kokernag, Anantnag district, Jammu and Kashmir; bodies found in a forest about 20 km away
- New Development
- SIA searches at nine locations across J&K this week; fresh investigations into the killings
- Family's Pursuit
- 34-year legal battle led by son Rajinder Koul, now 70
- Unfulfilled Promises
- Land, compensation and a CBI inquiry promised by Centre and J&K governments
- Family Status
- Never returned to ancestral home; mother died in 2017 without revisiting Kashmir