STRUCTURES OF VIOLENCE

538 | Structures of Violence
Case No. 48
Victim Details
Ghulam Hassan Hajam [Torture]
Age: 30
Occupation: Laborer
Son of: Abdul Rahim Hajam
Resident of: Duroo, Sopore
Alleged Perpetrators
1. Mukesh Bhatia, Deputy Superintendent of
Police [DSP], Special Operations Group
[SOG], Jammu and Kashmir Police
Case Information
A joint party of the police and the army arrested the
victim on charges of assisting militants by providing
them food and shelter. He was taken to Gunjoo House,
Sopore where he was detained for two nights and then
shifted to the SOG camp at Townhall for ten days.
Then, he was taken to Police Station Sopore for one
night and then to Sub Jail Baramulla for one week.
From Sub-Jail Baramulla, he was shifted to Udhampur
for nine months, after which he was transferred to Sub-
Jail and then to Humhama for two months and ten days
and then shifted to police station Sopore, from where
he nally got released.
The victim has never spoken about his torture before.
In SOG camp, Townhall, DSP Mukesh Bhatia and
another army ofcer tortured the victim but he does not
know the name of the latter. He was beaten with both
steel and wooden rods, his legs were stretched, and
electric shocks were given to his penis and toes. He
was kept naked. He was hung upside down and a roller
was rolled on his body. The DSP and army personnel
used cigarette butts to burn his skin but no stove or
other heating elements were used. He was given
some medical treatment like antibiotics and ointments.
Abdul Salam Rather, Advocate, worked on his case in
the sessions court Baramulla. The army claimed that
they caught him in an encounter and recovered from
him an AK-47. However, since the army never
appeared before the court, he was acquitted. He was
arrested in front of his family members including
uncles and aunts and neighbors. His parents lodged a
First Information Report in police station Sopore
regarding his arrest. The police told his parents that
they would trace their son's whereabouts within fteen
days.
The police disclosed to his parents that he was in
custody of the SOG in Town Hall. The SOG personnel
met his parents and demanded Rs. 50000. But, the
parents had a modest background and couldn't afford
to pay such a princely sum. Consequently, he was
booked under the PSA.
His family members were very anxious regarding his
security; hence, they suffered nancial problems
because his detention and the army's frequent raids
disturbed the working schedule of his father.The police
was a mute spectator; they did not act in an impartial
way.The police was very timid and were following the
directions of the army in a very submissive way.
The victim, Ghulam Hassan Hajam, gave the above
statement to the IPTK on 24 April 2015.
The victim's statement is clear, and cogent evidence is
presented of the torture by the alleged perpetrator. The
allegations warrant further investigation. Particularly, it
needs to be ascertained who the army ofcer was that
was also involved in the torture. The date of the torture
also needs to be ascertained.
Case No. 49
Victim Details
[Name and identifying information withheld on the
request of the victim/witness] [Torture]
Resident of: Islamabad District
Alleged Perpetrators
1. Zahid Malik, Superintendent of Police [SP]
Operations, Special Operations Group
[SOG], Jammu and Kashmir Police
2. Reyaz Punjabi, Assistant Superintendent of
Police [ASI], Special Operations Group
[SOG], Jammu and Kashmir Police
3. Ram Das, Special Operations Group [SOG],
Jammu and Kashmir Police
4. Tariq, Special Operations Group [SOG],
Jammu and Kashmir Police
Case Information
In January 2011, the victim was arrested by Islamabad
police while he was in Srinagar. First, he was taken to
Kothi Bagh Police Station for 3-4 hours and then was
shifted to Joint Interrogation Centre [JIC] Khanabal.
There, at about 10:00 am he was rst stripped and kept
in a dark room for about 2 hours. After that he was taken
out of the room and taken to the ofce of SP
(Operations) Zahid Malik. There was one more ofcer in
the ofce namely Reyaz Punjabi (ASI probably). In SP
Zahid's ofce they switched off the lights and SP Zahid
asked Reyaz to shoot the victim. Then SP told Reyaz to
put the gun down and asked him to leave the ofce.
After that SP Zahid sipped some alcohol. He started
questioning the victim for some time. After that he called
two SOG men, Ram Das and Tariq, to take him out of
the ofce. They took him to the torture cell and made
him sit on a chair and tied him to that chair. Zahid
ordered his men to beat the victim with bamboo sticks.
He was beaten for half-an-hour. He was then made to
bow down and a stick was put inside his rectum and was
kept there for 10-15 minutes. He was hung for 30-45
minutes. After this he was made to lie down and a roller