Srinagar: The CBI probe into the custodial torture case of Jammu and Kashmir Police constable Khursheed Ahmed Chowhan has confirmed multiple wounds inflicted on him by fellow personnel at JIC, Kupwara, with reports showing that the fracture and other injuries were “caused by blunt force trauma, consistent with beating or torture” to “extort confession”.
In its findings submitted before the Special Court in Srinagar, the CBI has chargesheeted Deputy SP Ajaz Ahmad, Sub-Inspector Reyaz Ahmad Mir, SPO Jahangeer Ahmad Beigh and five other fellow police officials — Tanveer Ahmad Malla, Mohammad Younis Khan, Shakir Ahmed, Altaf Hussain Bhat and Shahnawaz Ahmad Deedad — for torture to extract a confession and information.
All the accused officers were arrested on August 20 and are in judicial custody.
The testimony of Sub-Inspector Manzoor Ahmad Sheikh, then posted at Police Post, Drugmulla, giving a chilling description of Chowhan, has become strong evidence in the chargesheet filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the Kupwara custodial torture case.
The CBI chargesheet accessed by PTI shows that Sheikh had visited the Joint Interrogation Centre (JIC) on February 23 and 25, 2023 to inquire about the well-being of Chowhan, who had been brought to the Centre on February 20 on the signed orders of then SSP Kupwara from Baramulla, where he was posted.
When Chowhan was brought before Sheikh in Deputy SP Ajaz Ahmad’s office on the afternoon of February 25, 2023, his weight rested on one foot, the toe of the other foot barely touching the ground, and one hand trembled uncontrollably, telling a silent story of alleged torture at the JIC.
Sheikh’s testimony supported the allegations that Chowhan was subjected to brutal torture upon his arrival by eight of his fellow police personnel posted at JIC, Kupwara to force a confession in a narcotics case for nearly six days between February 20 and 26, 2023.
The JIC, Kupwara is a heavily guarded operational unit of the Jammu and Kashmir Police that supports the district police in various operations, including the interrogation of suspects and accused in terrorism, narco-terrorism and narcotics cases.
Deputy SP Ajaz Ahmad and SI Reyaz Ahmad told Sheikh that Chowhan, along with two other persons, was involved in narcotics cases and asked him to stay away from the matter.
The fears of him being subjected to custodial torture were substantiated in the medical reports days later, which showed a fractured foot, extensive bruising and injuries consistent with the allegations.
The CBI cited medical records from several hospitals — Sub-District Hospital, Kupwara; Government Medical College, Baramulla; SKIMS, Soura; and the Bones and Joints Surgery Hospital in Barzulla — which confirmed multiple wounds, including a fracture in his left foot, with reports showing that the fracture and other injuries were “caused by blunt force trauma, consistent with beating or torture” to “extort confession”.
Chowhan’s discharge summary, used as evidence by the CBI, had also described a grim inventory of wounds — conjunctival swelling in both eyes, abrasions across his forearms and shins, bloodstains and tenderness on both feet, and deep bruising across the buttocks and thighs, among others.
Digging deeper, the CBI found critical visual evidence in the CCTV footage of the JIC showing Chowhan limping heavily as he walked through a corridor.
Nailing the findings, a Multi-Institutional Medical Board (MIMB) comprising senior doctors from Delhi’s RML Hospital and Lady Hardinge Medical College gave a detailed forensic opinion, concluding that the injuries on the buttocks, upper thighs, soles and palms “were not self-inflicted” resulting from “blunt force impact”.
“The injuries sustained in the buttocks, upper thighs, foot and palms, and anal fissures, presence of foreign bodies (vegetative matter in the rectum) are suggestive of custodial torture,” the report said.
The board further observed from the medical reports that the bruises were two to three days old — aligning with the period of Chowhan’s confinement at the Kupwara facility.
The allegations of Chowhan that he was inflicted with injuries on his genitalia were, however, not substantiated in the report of the medical board, which opined “the possibility of the injuries sustained by the subject in the genitalia being self-inflicted cannot be ruled out”.
His allegations that he was hit on his abdomen by Malla on the morning of February 26 also could not be substantiated by the agency.
“As such, no credible, trustworthy and prosecutable evidence has come on record that accused persons (A1 to A8) had caused injuries on the private parts of Khursheed Ahmed Chowhan on 26.02.2023 at JIC Kupwara,” it said.
