SRINAGAR, Aug 21:
The Central Investigation Bureau (CBI) today arrested six policemen, including two officers, and two civilians over the alleged custodial torture of a police constable at Joint Interrogation Centre Kupwara two years ago.
The arrests followed Supreme Court orders regarding the alleged custodial torture of a police constable in Kupwara. The Supreme Court had ordered an FIR be filed against the accused and compensation for the constable due to severe injuries inflicted during illegal detention.
The arrested officials include Deputy Superintendent of Police Aijaz Ahmad Naikoo, Inspector Reyaz Ahmad, Jehangir Ahmad, Imtiyaz Ahmad, Mohammad Yunis and Shakir Ahmad. They were posted at the JIC Kupwara at the time of the torture of the police man.
The Apex Court’s order last month demanded accountability and justice for the inhumane treatment endured by the victim.
The Supreme Court bench strongly condemned the brutality, highlighting the severe injuries inflicted on the constable, including mutilation and use of electric shocks. It ordered the CBI to file an FIR and the UT administration to compensate the victim with Rs 50 lakh.
The FIR registered after Apex Court’s intervention mentioned that the medical records of Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Science (SKIMS) Hospital, Soura, Srinagar, show “complete mutilation of genitalia with both testicles removed, laceration on the scrotum, tenderness on palms and feet, bruises on buttocks extending to thighs, multiple vegetative particles in the rectum, and fractures throughout the body”.
The victim’s wife in a written complaint had mentioned the ordeal her husband went through since he was detained on February 20, 2023 in the JIC, Kupwara. “Senior Superintendent of Police, Kupwara, handed over my husband to incharge DySP Naiko and SI Riyaz, who kept my husband for six days in the centre and unleashed severe torture, leaving him to die,” she said.
She claimed that police officials had been abandoning Khursheed “at some place in a half dead condition. But due to the hue and cry of residents of the nearby area, the police officials were compelled to shift him to a hospital”.
She further alleged that the police officials severely tortured her husband for six days and that his “private parts were cut off, besides iron rods being inserted in his private part continuously for six days. Also red pepper was inserted in his rectum and he was given electric shocks”.
“The SSP acted as a mere spectator,” the wife alleged. “There is no example of such barbaric torture known in the history of mankind. No relative or family member was allowed to see or meet Khursheed during the six days of his confinement,” she added.
On July 21, the SC quashed the First Information Report (FIR) lodged against the victim and announced Rs 50 lakh compensation, “recoverable from the officer(s) concerned against whom a departmental proceeding shall be initiated upon conclusion of the investigation by the CBI”.
The SC has directed the CBI to submit its status report by November 10, 2025, before the court. The Apex Court observed that the case “reveals a disturbing pattern of systematic cover-up and abuse of authority”.
“The influence being exercised by local police officials is evident from the fact that no proper investigation was initiated despite the clear medical evidence of torture. And instead, a counter FIR No. 32 of 2023 was registered against the victim himself under Section 309 of the IPC to create a false narrative,” the court had observed.(Courtesy Daily Excelsior)