Yunus death case: Four accused cops reinstated

Six years after being suspended for the custodial death of 2002 Ghatkopar blast accused Sayed Khwaja Yunus, four of the nine accused — former encounter specialist Praful Bhosale, Hemant Desai, Rajaram Vanmane and Ashok Khot — have been re-inducted into the police force.

Confirming his appointment, Bhosale said that justice has been served, but after a struggle of over six years. “It is a little too late,” said Bhosale.

The four were suspended on charges of being involved in Yunus’ disappearance from police custody in 2002. Yunus was picked up on December 23 that year from Parbhani, 200 kilometres from Aurangabad, in connection with the bomb blast in a BEST bus in Ghatkopar on December 2.

In January 2003, it came to light that Yunus had escaped from the police lock-up, though Yunus’s parents had challenged the police’s claim. His body has not been found. Finally, after the state intelligence agency found the cops complicit, 10 were charged and suspended for being involved in Yunus’ disappearance.

In the case of these four policemen, the state has told the high court that they have no connection to the incident before reinstating them.

However, Yunus’s mother has filed a petition challenging the state’s claim. “The hearing is on July 1. Ashiya Beghum, Khwaja’s mother, said she stands by her claim that these four police too are involved,” Yunus’s brother-in-law said.