STRUCTURES OF VIOLENCE

159 | Structures of Violence
shopkeeper Nazir Ahmad So. Nazir Ahmad So
was released subsequently but the victim was
shifted to the Bijbehara camp and subsequently
his whereabouts were not known. On crossexamination,
the witness conrmed that the arrest
was executed by SI Devi Dutt in his presence.
- A witness whose testimony begins on page 3
of the enquiry report [the missing page] but
continues on page 4 states that Nazir Ahmad So
was released after six months but the victim was
not. On cross-examination, the witness states that
the arrest was executed by SI Devi Dutt.
- Malik Ghulam Rasool, the father of the victim,
testied that at 9:00 am on 20.7.1990 the victim
was arrested from his shop at Verinag by CRPF
personnel and taken to the “Forces Camp”.
Afterwards, his whereabouts were not disclosed.
In January 1998 two police personnel came to his
residence and informed him that the victim was
detained “in some jail”. The witness was not
informed of the specic jail at which the victim was
detained. Despite efforts the witness could not nd
his son.
- Bashir Ahmad Shah, testied to the arrest of
the victim at the Verinag market by CRPF
personnel and his subsequent disappearance.
The enquiry notes that the petitioner [Aisha, the
mother of the victim] also testied about the arrest of
her son and even named the ofcer responsible. The
enquiry report notes that the testimony of the
witnesses was not damaged on cross-examination.
The enquiry report therefore concludes in favour of the
petitioner and conrms the arrest of the victim on 20
rd
July 1990 by the 53 Battalion of the CRPF in Verinag
and that the whereabouts of the victim are unknown.
Therefore, the judicial process took 11 years to conrm
the abduction and disappearance of the victim and
indict the individual battalion without xing specic
culpability on SI Devi Dutt. Despite having evidence on
record against SI Devi Dutt, the Sessions Judge,
Islamabad, failed in fully discharging his duty on
recording the entirety of the case. The delayed enquiry
report apparently did not result in any further action or
prosecution as this case nds no mention in the ofcial
documents related to cases sent by the Jammu and
Kashmir Government for acquiring prosecution
sanction under the Armed Forces (Jammu and
Kashmir) Special Powers Act, 1990 [AFSPA].
Further, the available documents do not suggest that
even a Court-Martial was conducted in this case by the
army.
The conduct of the High Court with regard to the
disposal of the case seven years before the conclusion
of the judicial enquiry is an indicator of the nonapplication
of the mind. Further, the weak relief nally
ordered, of a second FIR to be led, and the delayed
manner in which the entire case was handled
effectively provided for the institutional delay of justice
which strengthens impunity. Finally, the 18 December
2014 Jammu and Kashmir Police position that the
document no longer exist is contradictory to the earlier
position of the police that the documents were led
before a court and suggest that there may be an
attempt to cover up the case.
Case No. 6
Victim Details
Mohammad Maqbool Bhat [Enforced Disappearance]
Son of: Habibullah Bhat
Resident of: Gangbugh, Srinagar
Alleged Perpetrators
1. Central Reserve Police Force [CRPF]
personnel at Hariniwas Interrogation Centre
2. Deputy Inspector General [DIG] Jaswant
Singh, Central Reserve Police Force [CRPF]
Case Information
On 21 July 1990 Mohammad Maqbool Bhat was
abducted by the CRPF personnel and his
whereabouts are not known to date. The victim was
arrested with a person named Naseer Ahmad Dar,
who was subsequently released and conrmed the
abduction of the victim.
A petition was led before the High Court [habeas
corpus petition, HCP 541/1990] seeking directions
regarding the whereabouts of the victim. On 12
November 1996 a direction was given for a FIR to be
led u/s 364 [Kidnapping/Abducting to murder] and
365 [Kidnapping/Abducting with intent to secretly and
wrongfully conne] Ranbir Penal Code, 1989 [RPC] to
be investigated by the Deputy Inspector General [DIG]
Kashmir, Srinagar and progress reports were to be
submitted to the court. Further, an enquiry was
ordered which was conducted by the District and
Sessions Judge, Srinagar. On 27 July 2004, following
the conclusion of the enquiry, the High Court directed
the Station House Ofcer [SHO] of Batamaloo Police
Station to register an FIR, and conduct investigations.
The judicial enquiry noted that the counsel for the
respondents appeared on 18 June 1997. But, an
order of the enquiry of 27 September 1997 shows that
the counsel for the respondents did not acknowledge
the summons subsequently and avoided the
summons and asked some “B.S.F. man” to receive the
summons. The petitioner produced witnesses, and the
evidence is summarized below:
- Habibullah Bhat, the petitioner, stated that he
was sitting in his compound on 21 July 1990 and
ve gypsys [vehicles] were boarded by CRPF
personnel and his son was with them. They
entered the cow shed but nothing was recovered
from there. The CRPF personnel told the witness
that the victim would be released soon. The
witness also stated that he found the victim at
Hariniwas Interrogation Centre in the custody of
CRPF personnel and DIG Jaswant Singh