Mumbai: Make ex-cops stand trial, Khwaja Yunus family urges court

MUMBAI: Even as the prosecution said it was not “pressing” at this stage the plea to make four additional cops accused in the 2003 Khwaja Yunus custodial death case, the victim’s family urged the court to make them stand trial. Khwaja’s mother, Asiya Begum, said that the state government’s decision to “withdraw the plea” was unlawful and illegal.

Both special public prosecutor Pradip Gharat and lawyer for the four proposed accused, Subhash Jha, strongly opposed the plea. Jha questioned the credibility of the witness, a doctor, based on whose statement the earlier prosecutor had sought to make the four cops accused.

The court will pass orders on September 7.

Dismissed API Sachin Waze and then constables Rajendra Tiwari, Rajaram Nikam and Sunil Desai are on trial in the case. Gharat submitted that the sanctioning authority had considered the evidence and refused sanction to prosecute the four retired cops, ACP Praful Bhosale and senior police inspectors Rajaram Vhanmane, Ashok Khot and Hemant Desai.

However, Asiya Begum’s plea argued by advocate Chetan Mali said that till date, the issue “whether stripping, tying, beating and kicking of an undertrial to death qualifies as being done in actual or purported discharge of duty of the police officers, has remained unaddressed.”

The plea said the acts were not part of discharge of one’s duty and therefore sanction would not be required.

The earlier special public prosecutor Dhiraj Mirajkar had relied on the court deposition of the first eyewitness — the doctor —to move the plea to add the four as accused. The witness said that the four officers were present when Yunus was assaulted in 2003 and Desai kicked him. The witness, was Yunus’ co-accused in the 2002 Ghatkopar BEST bus blast case and was acquitted.

Gharat said that the victim’s family had crossed all limits by filing the plea and it amounted to contempt of court.