After a Supreme Court order, six Jammu and Kashmir policemen were arrested for brutally torturing a fellow policeman. The apex court described it as the “most barbaric instance of police atrocity,” sparking shock and raising serious questions of accountability.
Six policemen, including a Deputy Superintendent, have been detained by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for the alleged severe torture of a fellow officer during custody in Kupwara district, Jammu and Kashmir, in 2023, according to official sources.
The arrests followed a Supreme Court directive that instructed the CBI to file a First Information Report (FIR) regarding the torture of a policeman during unlawful custody and to apprehend the accused officers.
Among those arrested are Deputy Superintendent of Police Aijaz Ahmad Naikoo and Inspector Reyaz Ahmad, who are implicated in the brutal torture of policeman Khursheed Ahmad Chouhan in February 2023.
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Last month, the Supreme Court criticized the Jammu and Kashmir Police harshly, describing the torture of Chouhan as “the most barbaric instance of police atrocity.”
The Court also reprimanded the Jammu and Kashmir High Court for making a “grave error by failing to exercise its writ jurisdiction” in this case.
An order passed by a bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta, said,
“The unprecedented gravity of this case involving brutal and inhuman custodial torture, characterised by the complete mutilation of the appellant’s genitalia, represents one of the most barbaric instances of police atrocity, which the state is trying to defend and cover up with all pervasive power. The medical evidence conclusively establishes that such injuries are impossible to be self-inflicted. The respondent’s theory of suicide attempt crumbles under scrutiny when examined against the timeline and the medical evidence. It is foolhardy to suggest that a rational person would subject himself to complete genital mutilation and cause injuries to inaccessible body parts so as to avoid questioning in a drug case,”
The Court indicated that the way the Jammu and Kashmir Police handled the case illustrates a severe institutional malice and a disturbing pattern of systematic cover-up and misuse of power.
The court stated,
“The transformation of a torture victim into an accused through a concocted theory of attempted suicide, based on manifestly implausible medical opinion and glaring procedural violations, reflected institutional malice of the highest order,”
Records indicate that Khursheed Ahmad Chouhan was summoned by the SSP Kupwara on February 17, 2023, and turned over to a team of officers for interrogation related to an alleged drug trafficking case.
No FIR was filed against Chouhan, and he endured three days of torture in illegal custody.
According to the CBI FIR filed following the Supreme Court’s orders, medical records from Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences, Srinagar, confirm that Chouhan experienced extreme torture, including “complete mutilation of genitalia with both testicles removed,” along with other forms of inhumane treatment during custody.
The wife of the tortured policeman pursued justice tirelessly, leading the case to the Supreme Court after she found no relief from the Jammu and Kashmir High Court.
The Supreme Court also criticized the High Court for its “grave error.”
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The Supreme Court remarked in its ruling,
“The High Court committed a grave error in law by failing to exercise the writ jurisdiction and refusing to apply the mandatory principles laid down by the Constitution Bench in Lalita Kumari,”
The court observed,
“Instead of ordering immediate registration of FIR, the High Court directed the very same Senior Superintendent of Police, Kupwara, who had issued the signal on February 17, 2023, and under whose jurisdiction the alleged torture occurred, to conduct an inquiry into his own subordinates’ actions. This direction constitutes a flagrant violation of the fundamental principles of natural justice,”