Justice Wasim Sadiq Nargal of the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh at Jammu has directed the personal appearance of the Investigating Officer (SHO, Police Station Billawar) along with the case diary file in connection with FIR No. 0032 of 2025, an alleged custodial torture case involving a tribal youth, Makhan Din.
The case pertains to serious allegations of custodial torture leading to the death of 26-year-old Makhan Din, who reportedly consumed poison after releasing a viral video on February 5, in which he claimed he was brutally tortured by Billawar Police to force a false confession of links with militants.
The directive came in response to a writ petition filed by Makhan Din’s father, Muhammad Mureed, and widow, Juna Begum, seeking transfer of the investigation to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to ensure a fair and impartial probe. The petitioners, through Advocate Appu Singh Salathia, argued that the local police cannot be trusted to investigate a case in which its own personnel are the accused.
Justice Nargal also issued notices to the Chief Secretary, Home Secretary, Principal Secretary to the Lieutenant Governor, Director CBI, DGP J&K, IGP Jammu, SSP Kathua, and SHO Billawar. Senior AAG Monika Kohli accepted the notices and was granted a week to file a response.
The petitioners contended that despite a dying declaration, no FIR was initially registered. It was only after directions from a magistrate that an FIR was lodged on March 9. However, they alleged that names of the accused police officials, mentioned in the complaint, were omitted from the FIR, and an earlier action-taken report had already given them a clean chit.
While the Court deferred passing any interim directions for now, it listed the matter for further hearing on April 25, directing the IO’s mandatory presence along with the CD file. [KNT]
