Kathua court directs police to file FIR into man’s death-OxBig News Network

A court has directed the Jammu and Kashmir Police to lodge a First Information Report (FIR) into the death of Makhan Din, 26, who allegedly died by suicide after facing torture in police custody in Kathua’s Billawar area in February this year. Meanwhile, three civilians were reported missing from Billawar on Friday and remain untraced.

“In the light of the complaints, the Station House Officer [SHO] is directed to register an FIR and initiate a thorough investigation in accordance with law [into Din’s death],” Amandeep Kour, Sub-Judge, Kathua, said in an order passed on Thursday.

The court order was passed after two separate applications were filed by the victim’s father, Mureed, and wife, Juna Begum.

“We placed our arguments, including the dying declaration before the court. The police action taken report submitted to the court suggested Din and his father Mureed were questioned on February 5 and released later. The action taken report suggested there was no evidence to suggest Din or his father were tortured. However, the court observed that it was prima facie a cognisable matter of serious nature and referred to custodial torture too,” Appu Singh Salathia, a lawyer representing the victim’s kin, said.

‘Vague arguments’

She said the court also turned down the arguments of the police that FIR was not required because of ongoing inquest proceedings, a magisterial and a departmental inquiry. “The court too held that the arguments furnished by the police before the court were vague,” Ms. Salathia said.

So far, neither the magisterial probe nor departmental inquiry have been made public in the case. The victim purportedly filmed a 3.48-minute video inside a mosque in Kathua’s Billawar area on February 6. With a copy of the Koran on his head, Din said he had to cook up a story to save his life and now feared returning to the police station and getting beaten up. He alleged the police tortured him in custody “to admit having links with militants”. “I have never seen any militant,” the victim said, in the video.

Senior advocate Sheikh Shakeel said the FIR in the case should be “followed up by an impartial and fair investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation“. “We will approach Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and plead that the matter be investigated by the CBI,” Mr. Shakeel said.

Search operation

Meanwhile, three civilians were reported missing on Friday from Jammu’s Kathua district. Officials said security forces launched a search operation to locate the missing.

Preliminary reports suggested that the trio, including a minor, were on their way to attend a wedding on Thursday night in the Lohai Malhar area of Kathua district.

BJP legislator Satesh Sharma raised the issue in the Assembly on Friday. “I want to inform you [the House] about the missing three civilians. We want to seek answers from the government,” Mr. Sharma said.

Officials said security forces launched a massive hunt to trace the missing civilians throughout the day. Officials do not rule out the disappearance as the handiwork of militants hiding in Kathua. The police, however, did not issue any statement on the disappearances till Friday evening.