CBI arrests 6 J&K policemen for custodial torture of constable

Srinagar, Aug 20 (IANS) The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday arrested six Jammu and Kashmir policemen, including two officers, on the orders of the Supreme Court for custodial torture of a constable.

Officials said that the arrested policemen include a deputy superintendent of police (Dy SP) and an inspector, in addition to two civilians involved in the custodial torture of a police constable.

The Supreme Court on July 21 directed the CBI to register an FIR over the "brutal and inhuman custodial torture" of a police constable in Jammu and Kashmir and ordered the Union Territory (UT) administration to pay him Rs 50 lakh compensation.

A bench of Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep Mehta said the injuries caused to the constable during his illegal detention, particularly the "complete mutilation of his genitalia, use of pepper/chilly powder and electric shocks on his genitalia, were grave reminders of the inhuman torture meted out to him.

“The cumulative effect of all these facts is deeply shocking to the conscience of this court. The violation of Article 21 is not only evident but egregious,” the apex court added.

The CBI had identified six policemen in the case, which included Dy SP Kupwara, Aijaz Ahmad Naiko; Sub-Inspector (SI) Riyaz Ahmad, Jahangir Ahmad, Imtiyaz Ahmad, Mohammed Younis and Shakir Ahmad, all policemen who were posted with the Joint Interrogation Centre (JIC), Kupwara.

The CBI had set up a Special Investigation Team (SIT), headed by a Superintendent of Police-rank officer, to investigate the case.

The FIR mentioned that the medical records of Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Science (SKIMS) Hospital, Soura, Srinagar, mentioned “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 the in-charge Dy SP 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 were abandoning her husband, 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 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.

--IANS

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