Spotlight

Khwaja Yunus Case


Ten Mumbai police-men, under a cloud in the alleged custodial death of Ghatkopar blast accused, Khwaja Yunus, have been transferred out of the city.


Acting on a Bombay High Court directive, Maharashtra Director General of Police, Dr P. S Pasricha said: “The ones who were in service in Mumbai, and who fell under the sphere of suspicion in the Khwaja Yunus case, have been transferred as per the High Court’s order.” The officers transferred were attached to the three Crime Branch units—Andheri, Powai and Ghatkopar in 2003, and include encounter specialists like Pradeep Sharma and Arun Borude. While the Powai unit had custody of Yunus at that time, he was lodged in the Ghatkopar unit and officers from Andheri were roped in for the interrogation. Police Inspector, Pradeep Sharma, who was posted at Andheri, has been transferred to Amravati. Arun Borude, who is the main investigating officer in the Ghatkopar blast case, has been shifted to Buldhana. Borude did not answer his phone despite repeated attempts. Prakash Patil, who was attached to the Ghatkopar unit, has been transferred to Nanded. The remaining policemen transferred were all posted at the Crime Branch’s Powai unit. Assistant Police Inspector, Dinkar Mohite has been transferred to Nagpur, police sub-inspectors, Girdhar Gore and Kanhiyalal Thorat to Ratnagiri and Nandurbar, assistant sub-inspector Mangesh Mahajan to Nashik city, constable Dattatraya Johri to Nashik rural, constable Limbhaji Yadav to Hingoli and constable Narhari Birnmule to Raigad. While the CID has filed charge-sheets against Borude, Mahajan and Birmule, the others have been transferred for falling in the sphere of suspicion. Yunus, a software engineer and a suspect in the 2002 Ghatkopar bomb blast, was arrested by the Crime Branch in December 2002. Crime Branch officers claimed that on January 6, 2003, while they were taking him to Ahmednagar, he escaped when their vehicle overturned. However, Yunus’s family moved the court claiming that he was killed in police custody. Co-accused in the case, Dr. Abdul Mateen also claimed that Yunus was tortured in police custody.

The Samajwadi Party, Mumbai unit, taking lessons of Gandhigiri from the Hindi film, Munnabhai Lage raho, are playing communal politics to appease Muslim voters, as the Brihan Mumbai Municipal Corporation elections are a few months away.


The Samajwadi Party has been sending bouquets to the ruling party’s Muslim MLAs and MLCs across the state, demanding that they pressurise the government for a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the Malegaon bomb blasts. A SP delegation landed at Trombay Congress MLA, Yusuf Abrahani’s residence recently. While Abrahani was not at home, the Samajwadi Party cadres tried to give the bouquet to Abrahani’s staff at home, who refused to accept it.


“We were advised by the police that since Abrahani’s family was not accepting the bouquet, we should not persist. So we put the memorandum in Abrahani’s post box,” said Farid Khan, a Samajwadi Party worker.


Next day, an angry Abrahani reached Abu Asim Azmi’s Colaba residence to confront him. The Congress MLA claimed that SP workers had misbehaved with his family and staff members.


“The Samajwadi Party workers were rude when they came to my residence and did not even spare the women members of my family. They were deliberately trying to create mischief as they could have come to my office if they wanted to submit a memorandum,” said Abrahani.


The Congress MLA claimed when he went to meet Azmi, the latter’s supporters tried to attack him and damaged the windscreen of his car. Khan denied the allegation. The Colaba police registered a case against a Samajwadi Party worker and kept him in custody. A case under Section 507 (2), 427, which involves damaging property, has been registered.