J&K court rejects bail plea of 8 police personnel in custodial torture case

A court in Srinagar has rejected the bail pleas of eight police personnel arrested by the CBI for allegedly inflicting custodial torture on a police constable two years ago.

The bail applications were rejected by Chief Judicial Magistrate, Srinagar, Aadil Mushtaq Ahmad on Saturday.

Deputy Superintendent of Police Aijaz Ahmad Naik, Inspector Riyaz Ahmad Mir and other accused cops — Tanveer Ahmad Malla, Altaf Hussain Bhat, Mohammad Younis Khan, Shakir Hussain Khoja, Shahnawaz Ahmad Deedad, and Jehangir Ahmad Beigh — had filed the separate bail applications before the court.

The accused policemen, who were arrested on the orders of the Supreme Court, had sought the bail in the case registered by theCBI to investigate allegations of custodial torture and grievous bodily injuries inflicted upon constable Khursheed Ahmed Chowhan, during his alleged illegal confinement at the Joint Interrogation Centre Kupwara in February 2023.

“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,” the judge said in the single order on all the three bail applications.

The judge said being a sessions-triable, non bailable case involving offences punishable with severe terms, the jurisdiction of this court is limited. “However, the prosecution has demonstrated that custodial supervision remains necessary to prevent intimidation,” he added.