Shopian case: SC stays narco-test of indicted cops

The Supreme Court on Monday stayed the narco-analysis tests of the police officers arrested in connection with the alleged rape and murder of two women in Shopian in Jammu and Kashmir.

A bench comprising Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justice P Sathasivam posted the petition filed by the officers challenging a Jammu and Kashmir High Court order on Friday. It also issued a notice to the Jammu and Kashmir government.

The police officers had on July 17 moved the apex court, seeking stay of the high court order, directing their arrest and collection of blood samples for preparing the DNA profile.

The police officers, including Superintendent of Police Javed Iqbal Mattoo and Deputy SP Rohit Baskotra, had submitted that the high court's order was passed against them without making them party in the PIL filed by the Jammu and Kashmir High Court Bar Association, in connection with the alleged rape and murder of Neelofar Jan and Aasiya Jan in Shopian.

Protests had erupted across Kashmir after the discovery of the bodies of the two women. Shopian, located in southern Kashmir, had observed a strike for 48 days to protest the deaths of the two women.