The CBI has booked six officials of the Jammu and Kashmir Police following allegations of inflicting "brutal and inhuman custodial torture" on a fellow police constable two years ago.

In its FIR registered on the orders of the Supreme Court, the central agency has named Deputy Superintendent of Police Aijaz Ahmad Naiko and five others, who were then posted at the Joint Interrogation Centre, Kupwara, officials said.

Apart from DSP Naiko, Sub-Inspector Riyaz Ahmad and four other J and K Police officials-- Jahangir Ahmad, Imtiyaz Ahmad, Mohammed Younis and Shakir Ahmad-- have been named in the FIR for allegedly inflicting "brutal and inhuman custodial torture" over six days on Constable Khursheed Ahmad Chohan.

The victim, who was posted in Baramulla, was summoned through a signal communication on February 17, 2023, to report before SSP, Kupwara ostensibly for investigation in connection with a narcotics case.

On arrival, he was handed over to the Joint Interrogation Centre, where Naiko, Riyaz Ahmad and others tortured Khursheed for six days with iron rods and wooden sticks, besides inflicting heavy electric shocks on him, the wife has alleged in her complaint, now part of the FIR.

"...finally on February 26, 2023, the private parts of Khursheed were cut off, besides iron rods inserted in his private part continuously for six days. Khursheed was subjected to severe torture and red pepper were inserted in his rectum and also given electric shocks," the complaint said.

The CBI FIR registered on the basis of the complaint filed by Khursheed's wife, who was running from pillar to post seeking a probe into the alleged atrocities against her husband, alleged that the then SSP, Kupwara on whose requisition the victim was sent from Baramulla to Kupwara for probe in a narcotics case, remained "a mute spectator".

The agency in its FIR has not named the SSP as an accused.

Khursheed had approached the Supreme Court with a chilling petition describing his ordeal after the Jammu and Kashmir High Court rejected the plea seeking a CBI probe.

Handing over the case to the CBI, the apex court noted that the high court "grossly erred in failing to exercise its constitutional obligation of protecting the fundamental rights of a citizen, his dignity and right to life".

"It failed to consider the gravity of offences committed as well as the influence that could be exerted by accused persons being police officials," a bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta said.

The apex court also ordered the payment of Rs 50 lakh in compensation to Khursheed, which shall be recoverable from the officer(s) concerned, against whom a departmental proceeding shall be initiated upon the conclusion of the investigation by the CBI.

The Supreme Court outrightly rejected the claims of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir that the injuries were the result of a suicide attempt by the victim.

"It is admitted that between 20th February and 26th February, 2023, the appellant sustained numerous injuries, including castration of his genital regions and was admitted to SKIMS Hospital at 2:48 pm on 26th February, 2023. It is also undisputed that the dismembered genitalia were brought to the hospital in a separate plastic bag by a sub-inspector, a fact that shocks our conscience," the court had observed.

The police had maintained that Khursheed tried to take his own life during the investigation and that his wounds were self-inflicted.

In a scathing judgment, the top court noted that the "unprecedented gravity" of this case involving "brutal and inhuman custodial torture", characterised by the "complete mutilation" of the appellant's genitalia, 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 medical evidence conclusively establishes that such injuries are impossible to be self-inflicted. The respondent's (Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir) theory of suicide attempt crumbles under scrutiny when examined against the timeline and the medical evidence," it said.

It stated that Khursheed was summoned to the Joint Interrogation Centre, Kupwara, on February 17, 2023, via a signal communication, which notably did not refer to any specific FIR.

The court noted that according to the police's claims, he was summoned for questioning in connection with FIR No. 1 of 2023 which is contradicted by the fact he was implicated in FIR No. 17 of 2023, registered six days later on February 23, 2023, and was based on the alleged disclosure made by co-accused Farooq Hussain, who was arrested following the recovery of a narcotic substance.

"This temporal anomaly exposes the fabricated nature of the respondent's case and conclusively establishes illegal detention of the appellant from February 20, 2023, to February 26, 2023," the court noted.

The Supreme Court said the medical evidence decisively rules out the theory of the harm being self-inflicted and demolishes the suicide theory.

"The complete surgical removal of both testicles, the extensive injuries to the appellant's palms and soles, consistent with custodial torture techniques such as falanga, the presence of multiple vegetative particles in the rectum, and bruising on the buttocks extending to the thighs -- all point to a pattern of sustained and systematic torture," it said.

It said these injuries are "medically impossible to be self-inflicted" particularly in the absence of fatal hemorrhage or loss of consciousness, as would have occurred had the mutilation been self-administered.

"The CBI shall also conduct a comprehensive inquiry into the systemic issues at the Joint Interrogation Centre, Kupwara, including examination of all CCTV systems, interrogation from all personnel present during the relevant period, forensic examination of the premises, and review of all protocols and procedures followed for detention and interrogation of suspects," the court said