Court Orders Fresh Probe In Nishat Youth's Mysterious Death

2026-03-04 20:05:28

(MENAFN- Kashmir Observer) ** Srinagar-** A court here has ordered further investigation, to be conducted by an officer not below the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police, into the mysterious death of a 22-year-old youth from Nishat, observing serious deficiencies and material contradictions in the earlier probe by the men in uniform.

The court of Special Judge NDPS Cases Srinagar, Vinor Kumar, passed the orders on a protest petition filed by Nazir Ahmad Hafiz, the father of the deceased youth- Ruman Nazir.

The police had filed the FIR-15/2025 with police station Nishat Srinagar-based on directions by the Chief Judicial Magistrate on a complaint filed by Hafiz.

Subsequently, police filed a charge-sheet for the offences under Sections 8/21, 27 and 29 of the NDPS Act and Ruman and two other accused, attributing the cause of death to a drug overdose.

Unimpressed by the police probe, Hafiz through his counsel advocate Abrar Ahmad Bhat alleged that the investigation was incomplete, biased and mechanical, and had ignored crucial material suggesting foul play. He contended that the body of the deceased was recovered on October 1, 2024, at the instance of the accused persons, three days after he went missing on September 28. The accused, he said, had initially claimed they had dropped the deceased near Nishat to meet his girlfriend and had no knowledge of his whereabouts, but it was upon sustained question which led to the recovery of Ruman’s body.

The counsel emphasized that the Investigating Officer has not investigated whether the alleged drug was administered voluntarily or forcibly, nor whether it was supplied or injected by the accused persons. The possibility of homicide under the garb of overdose has been completely ignored, he said. The Investigating Officer, he said, has heavily relied upon the Forensic Science Laboratory report to claim that heroin was detected from the viscera of the deceased, treating it as conclusive proof of death due to drug overdose. However, he said, the FSL report merely indicates the presence of the substance and is not conclusive proof that the death occurred solely due to overdose or that the drug was self-administered.

One of the significant lapses highlighted during the arguments was the failure of the Investigating Officer to record statements of key family members, including the deceased’s mother and brother, under Section 180 of the BNSS. The complainant had alleged that on the day of his disappearance, the deceased made a WhatsApp call to his mother stating that the accused had taken his money near Gani Baker’s shop in Nishat and that a quarrel had ensued.

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Another major gap identified was the alleged trip to Jammu for procurement of heroin. The charge sheet relied primarily on the statements of the accused that they travelled to Jammu, procured heroin from an unknown individual and later consumed it, leading to overdose.

After hearing prosecution and the counsel, the court observed that no independent corroboration such as toll records, CCTV footage, hotel records, fuel receipts or tower location data had been collected to verify the claim regarding procuring of heroin.

Holding that the deficiencies were not minor or technical but went to the root of the matter, the court allowed the protest petition and directed further investigation.

Subsequently, the court directed the Senior Superintendent of Police Srinagar to ensure that the further investigation was conducted by an officer not below the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police and completed within 60 days. The court also ordered submission of fortnightly progress reports detailing steps taken, evidence collected and witnesses examined.

A supplementary report or supplementary charge sheet is to be filed upon completion of further investigation. The matter has been listed after sixty days for consideration of the supplementary report and progress made.

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