The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested six policemen, including a Deputy Superintendent of Police, for the custodial torture of a fellow policeman, Khursheed Ahmad Chouhan, in Kupwara district of north Kashmir.
The arrests were made on the direction of the Supreme Court, which had earlier criticized the handling of the case by both the Jammu and Kashmir Police and the High Court.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested six policemen, including Deputy Superintendent of Police Aijaz Ahmad Naikoo and Inspector Reyaz Ahmad, for the illegal detention and brutal torture of Constable Khursheed Ahmad Chouhan in February 2023.
The arrests were made on the direction of the Supreme Court, which had earlier criticised both the Jammu and Kashmir Police and the High Court for mishandling the case.
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta termed the incident “one of the most barbaric instances of police atrocity,” noting that Chouhan was illegally held for three days and subjected to horrific torture, including the complete mutilation of his genitalia, as confirmed by medical reports from Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences, Srinagar.
Rejecting the state’s claim that the injuries were self-inflicted as part of a suicide attempt in a drug case, the court observed:
“It is foolhardy to suggest that a rational person would subject himself to complete genital mutilation and cause injuries to inaccessible body parts so as to avoid questioning in a drug case.”
Chouhan had been summoned by the SSP Kupwara on February 17, 2023, and later handed over to a team of officers, kept in illegal custody without any formal charges. The police then attempted to frame him as the accused by pushing a “concocted theory of attempted suicide,” the court noted.
The case surfaced only after Chouhan’s wife campaigned relentlessly for justice. After being denied relief by the Jammu and Kashmir High Court, she approached the Supreme Court, which intervened strongly and even rebuked the High Court for committing a “grave error” by directing the SSP Kupwara—who himself was responsible for ordering the interrogation—to probe the matter.
Calling it a blatant violation of natural justice, the Supreme Court highlighted the state police’s “institutional malice of the highest order” and ordered the CBI to register an FIR and arrest the accused officers.
The case has triggered nationwide outrage, renewing calls for stronger safeguards against custodial abuse and accountability of law enforcement. The CBI is now investigating the case under the direct supervision of the Supreme Court, while the arrested officers await trial for what the court described as a chilling example of police brutality and systemic failure of justice. (Agencies)
