Kupwara custodial torture case: CBI to press for police remand of 8 including two police officers

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday (August 21, 2025) pressed for police remand of six police personnel and two civilians involved in the custodial torture of a policeman two years ago in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district.

Officials said the CBI is in the process of approaching the Srinagar Special Court for the police remand. It comes a day after the central investigating agency arrested six policemen, including a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP)-rank officer, and two civilians in the case. Those arrested were identified as DSP Ajaz Ahmad Sheikh, Sub-Inspector Riyaz Ahmad, policemen Imtiyaz Ahmad, Hajagnir Ahmad, Shakir Ahmad and Mohammad Younis.

The CBI’s Special Investigation team (SIT), headed by DSP Subash Chander, questioned the policemen and the two civilians to record their statement. All the arrested individuals were locked up in a Srinagar jail. 

The arrests were made after the Supreme Court (SC) ordered on July 21 a CBI inquiry into the custodial torture of Constable Khurshid Ahmad Chouhan in February 2023 by fellow policemen in a Joint Interrogation Centre (JIC) in Kupwara.

On February 17, 2023, the policeman received a signal from Aijaz Ahmad Naiko, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Kupwara, directing him to report to the office of the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) on February 20, 2023, in connection with an enquiry related to a narcotics matter. The policeman was “detained and subjected to brutal custodial torture for six consecutive days”.

The policeman’s genital organs and testicles were amputated, the case sheet mentioned. “Pepper was sprinkled on his private parts, and he was given electric shocks which led to a fracture of his foot. He suffered grave injuries during the custodial torture, and was shifted to the District Hospital, Kupwara, in a comatose condition,” the case sheet suggested.

The SC Bench held that the police officers’ narrative reveals a disturbing pattern of systematic cover-up and abuse of authority that “further strengthens the policeman’s claim for CBI investigation”.

Later, the CBI lodged an FIR under Sections: 120-B, 307, 323, 325, 326 and 343, which deals criminal conspiracy, attempt to murder, voluntarily causing hurt, voluntarily causing grievous hurt, voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapon or means, wrongful confinement for three or more days.

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 by the JIC, Kupwara. “The SSP, Kupwara, acted as mere spectator,” the victim’s wife alleged. “There is no example of such barbaric torture known in the history of mankind,” she had said.

The SC has directed the CBI to submit its status report by 10th November, 2025 before the court.