The bail plea of the four police officers, including former Shopian SP Javid Iqbal Matoo, was rejected on Thursday by the Principal District and Sessions Judge, who said it would be “premature to grant bail to the arrested police officers at this juncture”.

The four suspended police officers — SP Mattoo, DSP Rohit Baskotra, SHO Shafiq Ahmad and SI Gazi Abdul Karim — have been in judicial custody from July 30 and are accused of destroying the evidence in the rape and murder of Asiya Jan and her sister-in-law Nelofer on the night of May 29.

“The accusations levelled against the petitioners are heinous and the punishment prescribed for the offence is sever, therefore, undoubtedly, it would be premature for the court to grant the petitioners bail at this stage, when the investigation has not been completed,” Sessions Judge Tauqeer Ahmad observed in his 37-page order.