The CBI has arrested a deputy superintendent and five other policemen for allegedly mutilating a police constable’s private parts two years ago to extract a confession in a drugs case.
The alleged custody torture of constable Khursheed Ahmad Chohan of Kupwara has turned the spotlight on the interrogation methods of the security forces, accused widely of brutalising detained or arrested civilians.
It has also focused attention on the police’s new narrative of “narco-terrorism” — allegedly pushed by Pakistan to fund insurgency — which apparently gives the force the licence to treat suspected militants and alleged drug peddlers on a par. Suspicion is growing that this campaign is being used to hound ordinary citizens.
Approached by Chohan, the Supreme Court had on July 21 handed over the investigation of the torture case to the CBI. It directed the agency to ensure that the policemen found involved were arrested “forthwith and not later than a period of one month” from July 22.
It also slammed the authorities for the brutality that led to the amputation of Chohan’s genitals and awarded an interim compensation of ₹50 lakh to him. It directed that the sum be recovered from the policemen involved after a disciplinary inquiry.
Those arrested are DSP Aijaz Ahmad Naiko, sub-inspector Riyaz Ahmad and their colleagues Jahangir Ahmad, Imtiyaz Ahmad, Mohammed Younis and Shakir Ahmad. They had all been posted at the joint interrogation centre in Kupwara when the alleged torture took place.
Chohan was posted at the district police headquarters, Baramulla, when he was summoned to the Kupwara senior superintendent of police’s office on February 20, 2023, in connection with an inquiry into a narcotics case.
He was allegedly detained without legal sanction and subjected to brutal torture for six consecutive days. He was admitted to the Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences, Soura-Srinagar, on February 26, 2023.
After the high court dismissed his plea for the registration of an FIR, Chohan approached the apex court.
The central agency’s FIR refers to a harrowing complaint lodged by Chohan’s wife.
She claims he was beaten repeatedly with iron rods and wooden sticks for six days, given electric shocks and subjected to barbaric acts of sexual torture, including the mutilation of his private parts, and the insertion of iron rods into his rectum.
Her complaint adds that red chili powder was applied to his wounds, and that the SSP Kupwara did not intervene despite being aware of what was going on.
The CBI has charged the accused with criminal conspiracy, attempt to murder, voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weaponsor means, and wrongful confinement.
A senior official said the arrests had been made by a special investigation team of the CBI, headed by CBI superintendent of police Subhash Chander Kundu. “They have been lodged in a police station in Srinagar district,” he said.
Chohan recently told The Telegraph that he had felt relieved by the Supreme Court order, and that he had been treated very harshly during questioning.
The six arrests have come weeks after Jammu’s tribal Gujjar community accused the police of killing a youth, Mohammad Parvez, after falsely framing him as a drug addict to justify a staged gunfight.A public outcry led to a case being registered and investigations launched.
The Union home ministry recently told Parliamentthat some 10,000 people had been arrested in Jammu and Kashmir under the Narcotic Drugs and PsychotropicSubstances Act between 2018 and 2022.