Kashmir: Court Rejects Bail Pleas of 8 cops Arrested by CBI in Custodial Torture Case

SRINAGAR: A Srinagar court has rejected the bail pleas of eight police personnel arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with an alleged case of custodial torture of a police constable in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district two years ago, according to reports appearing in the local media.

The bail applications, filed separately by Deputy Superintendent of Police Aijaz Ahmad Naik, Inspector Riyaz Ahmad Mir, and six other accused policemen — Tanveer Ahmad Malla, Altaf Hussain Bhat, Mohammad Younis Khan, Shakir Hussain Khoja, Shahnawaz Ahmad Deedad, and Jehangir Ahmad Beigh — were dismissed by Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) Srinagar, Aadil Mushtaq Ahmad, on Saturday.

The CBI had arrested the accused officers following Supreme Court directions in the case about alleged torture and grievous bodily harm inflicted upon constable Khursheed Ahmad Chowhan during what was described as his illegal confinement at the Joint Interrogation Centre (JIC), Kupwara, in February 2023.

Rejecting the bail pleas, the court said it found no compelling grounds to depart from the established legal principle that bail should not be granted in serious custodial violence cases at the investigation stage.

“The court is of the considered opinion that none of the three applications disclose any exceptional circumstance warranting departure from the settled principle that bail is not to be granted in serious custodial violence cases at the investigative stage,” the judge said, while issuing a single order covering all the bail applications.

The Chief Judicial Magistrate further observed that the matter, being a sessions-triable and non-bailable case involving offences punishable with severe terms, restricted the lower court’s jurisdiction in granting bail.

“However, the prosecution has persuasively demonstrated that custodial supervision remains necessary to prevent interference and intimidation,” the order added.

The accused officers remain in custody as the CBI continues its investigation into the alleged custodial torture case, which has drawn attention within police and judicial circles for its rare prosecution of serving officers under central investigation.