A court in Jammu and Kashmir's Kupwara district has granted bail to a deputy superintendent of police and seven cops who were arrested for mutilating the private parts of a fellow cop, reversing in less than a month its prior order rejecting the bail plea.

The arrests were made by the CBI on August 20 in connection with the alleged illegal detention and custodial torture of a constable in February 2023.

The bail was granted by the Kupwara principal district and sessions judge Manjeet Singh Manhas. He had rejected their bail on December 8.

Those granted bail include DSP Aijaz Ahmad Naik, sub-inspector Reyaz Ahmad Mir, special police officer Jahangeer Ahmad Beigh, head constables Mohammad Younis Khan and Tanveer Ahmad Malla, selection grade constables Shakir Hussain Khoja and Altaf Hussain Bhat and constable Shahnawaz Ahmad Deedad.

Advocate Ahrar Dar, counsel for the accused, said the court directed them to stay within the territorial jurisdiction of the court and desist from tampering with the evidence. They were also told to furnish bail and surety bonds of ₹1 lakh each.

They were arrested after the Supreme Court ordered the CBI in July to probe the allegations of Kupwara constable Khurshed Ahmad Chohan that he was tortured for being a part of an alleged drug syndicate. The top court also granted the victim compensation of ₹50 lakh. The CBI registered an FIR on July 26.

Dar said the accused filed a fresh bail application, contending that the CBI was required to get permission for prosecution from the home department. “We argued that the CBI had not got the permission for prosecution. The CBI filed its objections, and the case was discussed thoroughly (after which the bail was granted),” Dar told The Telegraph.

The CBI, in its FIR lodged in July, mentioned a complaint filed by Chohan's wife, detailing the torture inflicted on her husband. She claimed the cops beat him with iron rods and wooden sticks for six days, gave him electric shocks and subjected him to sexual torture, including mutilating his genitals and inserting rods into his rectum.