A court in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kupwara district rejected the bail applications of eight policemen, including a Deputy Superintendent of Police, accused of illegally detaining and torturing a police constable at the Joint Interrogation Centre (JIC) Kupwara in February 2023.
The order came nearly two months after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed a chargesheet in the case, following directions from the Supreme Court.
The Principal District and Sessions Judge Kupwara, Manjeet Singh Manhas yesterday, dismissed the separate bail pleas filed by DySP Aijaz Ahmad Naik and seven other accused police officials—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. All the accused were arrested on August 20 this year.
The case stems from a complaint filed before the Supreme Court by Rubeena Akhter, who alleged that her husband, Constable Khursheed Ahmed Chouhan, was illegally confined at the JIC Kupwara for six days and subjected to custodial torture under the guise of narcotics-related interrogation. Due to the severity of his injuries, Chohan was admitted to the Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS), Soura-Srinagar, on February 26, 2023.
Chouhan had earlier approached J&K High Court seeking registration of FIR, but his plea dismissed, prompting him to move apex court
In its directive, the Supreme Court in July 21, had handed over the investigation of the case to CBI and ordered it to ensure that police personnel found responsible for the custodial torture are arrested “forthwith and not later than a period of one month” from July 22. Furthermore, the apex court had set a deadline of 90 days for the CBI to complete the investigation from the date of FIR registration.
Acting on her plea, the apex court had directed the CBI in July 2025 to register an FIR and conduct a comprehensive inquiry.
During investigation, the CBI collected medical reports, CCTV footage from the JIC, witness testimonies and DNA evidence from CFSL Chandigarh, which, according to the agency, corroborated the allegations of custodial torture. The CCTV footage from February 26, 2023, reportedly shows the victim limping inside the JIC compound.
The accused through their advocates argued before the Court that the officers had clean service records, that no specific role was attributed to them, and that the most serious charges—attempt to murder (Section 307) and grievous hurt by dangerous weapons (Section 326)—had been dropped in the final chargesheet.
They also contended that the lack of government sanction for prosecution entitled the accused to bail.
Rejecting these arguments, the court said the chargesheet had been filed within the statutory period, ruling out “default bail.” It further held that no “substantial change in circumstances” had occurred since their earlier bail rejection, noting that issues such as the absence of sanction must be examined at the stage of framing of charges, not at the bail stage.
Calling the allegations serious and the evidence sufficient to proceed, the court concluded that the accused had failed to establish grounds for their release.
