CBI arrests 8 J&K Police personnel in custodial torture case; to seek police remand

New Delhi: The CBI will seek from the Srinagar Special Court the police remand of eight Jammu and Kashmir Police personnel arrested by it for inflicting "brutal and inhuman custodial torture" on a fellow police constable two years ago, officials said.

The eight officers who were taken into custody on Wednesday night after detailed questioning will be interrogated further to ascertain the roles of each accused in torturing Constable Khursheed Ahmad Chohan for six days on suspicion of helping drug peddlers.

In its FIR registered on the orders of the Supreme Court, the central agency had booked Deputy Superintendent of Police Aijaz Ahmad Naiko and five others, who were then posted at the Joint Interrogation Centre, Kupwara, the officials said.

During the investigation, the CBI found the role of two more police personnel for aiding the alleged inhuman treatment meted out to Chohan and being uncooperative in the probe, they said.

Apart from DSP Naiko, Sub-Inspector Riyaz Ahmad and six others have been arrested in the case for alleged criminal conspiracy and attempt to murder among others, they said.

The victim, who was posted in Baramulla, was summoned through a signal communication on February 17, 2023, to report before the Kupwara SSP ostensibly for investigation in connection with a narcotics case.

On arrival, he was handed over to the Joint Interrogation Centre, where Naiko, Riyaz Ahmad and others tortured Khursheed for six days with iron rods and wooden sticks, besides inflicting heavy electric shocks on him and mutilation of his genitals, the wife has alleged in her complaint, which is now a part of the FIR.

"...finally on February 26, 2023, the private parts of Khursheed were cut off, besides iron rods inserted in his private part continuously for six days. Khursheed was subjected to severe torture and red pepper were inserted in his rectum and also given electric shocks," the complaint said.

"He was admitted to SKIMS Hospital at 2.48 pm on February 26, 2023 where his dismembered genitalia were brought to the hospital in a separate plastic bag by a sub-inspector, a fact that shocks our conscience," the Supreme Court had observed while handing over the case to the CBI.

The CBI FIR registered on the basis of the complaint filed by Khursheed's wife, who was running from pillar to post seeking a probe into the alleged atrocities against her husband, alleged that the then Kupwara SSP, on whose requisition the victim was sent from Baramulla to Kupwara for probe in a narcotics case, remained "a mute spectator".

The agency in its FIR has not named the SSP as an accused.

Khursheed had approached the Supreme Court with a chilling petition describing his ordeal after the Jammu and Kashmir High Court rejected the plea seeking a CBI probe.

Handing over the case to the CBI, the apex court noted that the high court "grossly erred in failing to exercise its constitutional obligation of protecting the fundamental rights of a citizen, his dignity and right to life".

"It failed to consider the gravity of offences committed as well as the influence that could be exerted by accused persons being police officials," a bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta said.

The apex court also ordered the payment of Rs 50 lakh in compensation to Khursheed, which shall be recoverable from the officer(s) concerned, against whom a departmental proceeding shall be initiated upon the conclusion of the investigation by the CBI.

The Supreme Court outrightly rejected the claims of the Union Territory (UT) of Jammu and Kashmir that the injuries were the result of a suicide attempt by the victim.

The police had maintained that Khursheed tried to take his own life during the investigation and that his wounds were self-inflicted.

In a scathing judgment, the top court noted that 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 (UT of Jammu and Kashmir) theory of suicide attempt crumbles under scrutiny when examined against the timeline and the medical evidence," it said.

It stated that Khursheed was summoned to the Joint Interrogation Centre, Kupwara, on February 17, 2023, via a signal communication, which notably did not refer to any specific FIR.

The court noted that according to the police's claims, he was summoned for questioning in connection with FIR No. 1 of 2023 which is contradicted by the fact he was implicated in FIR No. 17 of 2023, registered six days later on February 23, 2023, and was based on the alleged disclosure made by co-accused Farooq Hussain, who was arrested following the recovery of a narcotic substance.

"This temporal anomaly exposes the fabricated nature of the respondent's case and conclusively establishes illegal detention of the appellant from February 20, 2023, to February 26, 2023," the court noted.

The Supreme Court said the medical evidence decisively rules out the theory of the harm being self-inflicted and demolishes the suicide theory.

"The CBI shall also conduct a comprehensive inquiry into the systemic issues at the Joint Interrogation Centre, Kupwara, including examination of all CCTV systems, interrogation from all personnel present during the relevant period, forensic examination of the premises, and review of all protocols and procedures followed for detention and interrogation of suspects," the court said.