Srinagar: Nearly a month after a young tribal man was allegedly tortured in custody and later committed suicide, the Jammu and Kashmir police told a court in the Kathua district of Jammu on Tuesday (March 4) that a preliminary inquiry has been launched into the incident.
The disclosure came on two complaints filed in the Kathua court seeking the registration of an FIR in the alleged custodial torture of Makhan Din, 25, a herder from the Bhatodi village in Kathua district’s Billawar tehsil who filmed his last moments with a smartphone and circulated the video before his demise on February 5.
In the video, Din had alleged that the police was torturing him and framing in a false case of militancy, and that he was going to take his life because he was unable to bear more torture.
A state prosecutor told the court of Kathua sub-judge Amandeep Kour on Tuesday that a preliminary inquiry was launched into the case on February 27 in terms of Section 173(3) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023.
The section empowers police to conduct a preliminary inquiry into cognisable offences punishable by imprisonment for three to seven years.
The prosecutor informed the court that a complaint into the alleged custodial death endorsed by Kathua’s senior superintendent of police (SSP) was forwarded on February 25 to the Billawar station house officer (SHO) by the Billawar sub-divisional police officer (SDPO).
“Subsequently a letter for seeking the permission for conducting the preliminary enquiry in terms of Section 173(3) BNSS was sought from the SDPO office, whereby vide letter No.Rdr./Misc/2025/814-15/SDPO dated February 27th, 2025, SDPO Billawar permitted the SHO Billawar to conduct the preliminary enquiry in this matter,” the prosecutor said.
Last month, Din’s family and two independent lawyers – Mohd. Anwar Chowdhary and Sheikh Shakeel Ahmed – had approached the court in Kathua seeking directions under Section 175(3) of the BNSS to Kathua’s SSP and Billawar’s SHO to register an FIR against the police officials who allegedly tortured Din in their custody at the Billawar police station.
Section 175(3) empowers a magistrate to order a probe into a complaint if the police refuse to register an FIR, but only after the police are heard and an inquiry is carried out.
After hearing the complainants, the court had on February 28 directed the J&K police to file an ‘action taken report’ (ART) in the case on March 4.
However, when the proceedings started on Tuesday, the prosecutor sought ten days to file the ATR, arguing that the inquiry had not been completed because the Billawar SHO “remained busy in law and order/search operations”.
However, the defence lawyer alleged that the state was not taking the matter seriously and urged the court to allow the complaints in view of the failure of the state to file the ATR.
“Almost a month has passed, but an FIR till date has not been registered despite the commission of cognisable offences by the men in uniform,” he told the court.
The defence further told the court that Din had divulged on camera that he was subjected to torture in police custody and the law was “well settled that both the inquest proceedings as well the FIR could be carried on simultaneously”.
After hearing the two sides, the court later posted the matter for hearing on March 6.
Din was picked by a police team from the Billawar police station on February 4 for questioning in connection with a militancy case.
According to Lal Din, the victim’s brother, he was brought by a police team in a vehicle on the next day to his home with directions to bring the smartphones of his family members.
However, on the way back from his home, Din entered a neighbourhood mosque, where he shot a video in which he blamed the police of torturing him in custody and falsely linking him with militancy before swallowing a packet of insecticide.
Peoples’ Democratic Party president Mehbooba Mufti had alleged that Din was tortured by the Billawar SHO, following which the Union territory administration had removed the official from his post.
Police have said that Din was the nephew of Swaru Gujjar, a militant who is believed to be involved in an ambush on an army convoy in the Badnota area in July last year in which five army soldiers, including a junior commissioner officer, were killed.
“Makhan had a number of suspicious contacts in Pakistan and other foreign countries. There was no custodial torture or injury. He was questioned and then got exposed, went home and [died by] suicide,” police said.
If you know someone – a friend or a family member – at risk of suicide, please reach out to them. The Suicide Prevention India Foundation maintains a list of phone numbers they can call to speak in confidence. The TeleManas helpline, a government helpline, functions 24×7; its number is 1-800 891 4416 or 14416. You could also take them to the nearest hospital.
