SRINAGAR: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested eight Jammu and Kashmir Police personnel in connection with the alleged custodial torture of Constable Khursheed Ahmad Chohan, a case that the Supreme Court has described as one of the “most barbaric instances of police atrocity” in recent times.
According to media reports, the arrests took place on Wednesday night after extensive questioning. The CBI is expected to seek their police remand before the Special Court in Srinagar for further interrogation to determine the precise role of each accused in the six-day-long torture that left Chohan with life-threatening injuries.
The officials arrested include Deputy Superintendent of Police Aijaz Ahmad Naiko, Sub-Inspector Riyaz Ahmad, and six others who were then posted at the Joint Interrogation Centre (JIC) Kupwara. Reports said the arrests came after the CBI widened the scope of its investigation, adding two more personnel to the initial list of six accused named in the agency’s FIR, which was registered on the Supreme Court’s directions.
Chohan, posted in Baramulla, had been summoned to Kupwara on February 17, 2023, ostensibly in connection with a narcotics case. However, as reported, he was handed over to the JIC, where he was allegedly subjected to brutal torture by the officers. His wife’s complaint, now part of the FIR, claimed that he was beaten with iron rods and wooden sticks, subjected to electric shocks, and mutilated over six days. On February 26, he was admitted to Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS), Srinagar, with his dismembered genitalia brought separately in a plastic bag — a detail that drew severe censure from the apex court.
Medical records cited in media reports documented “complete mutilation of genitalia with both testicles removed, lacerations on the scrotum, bruises on buttocks extending to thighs, vegetative particles in the rectum, and fractures across the body.”
The Supreme Court, which had handed over the case to the CBI after rejecting the findings of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court, castigated the Union Territory administration for attempting to defend the incident as a suicide attempt. In its judgment, the court noted that the injuries were “impossible to be self-inflicted” and accused the local police of fabricating evidence, including registering a counter-FIR against the victim.
“The unprecedented gravity of this case, involving brutal and inhuman custodial torture, represents one of the most barbaric instances of police atrocity which the State is trying to defend and cover up with all-pervasive power,” the court observed, according to reports.
The bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta not only ordered a CBI probe but also directed the Union Territory to pay Chohan Rs 50 lakh as compensation, recoverable from the officer(s) responsible once departmental proceedings conclude.
Media reports highlighted that the Supreme Court has also directed the CBI to investigate systemic lapses at the JIC Kupwara, including forensic examination of the premises, checking CCTV records, and reviewing detention and interrogation protocols. The agency has been asked to file a status report by November 10, 2025.
Chohan’s wife, who pursued the case from the High Court to the Supreme Court, alleged in her complaint that the then Kupwara SSP remained a “mute spectator” to the ordeal. The CBI, however, has not named the SSP as an accused in its FIR.
The Supreme Court judgment, delivered last month, strongly condemned the High Court for “grossly erring” in refusing to order a CBI probe. It said the court had failed in its duty to safeguard a citizen’s fundamental rights, dignity, and life.
With the arrests now made, the focus shifts to the CBI’s interrogation of the accused and the outcome of its wider inquiry into custodial practices in Jammu and Kashmir. Reports said the case has become emblematic of both the misuse of power by law enforcement officials and the systemic failings that allowed such abuse to go unchecked.
