4 cops to face trial

Four policemen involved in the alleged custodial death of 2002 Ghatkopar blast accused, Khwaja Yunus, will finally face trial.

Four policemen involved in the alleged custodial death of 2002 Ghatkopar blast accused, Khwaja Yunus, will finally face trial.

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Shiv Sena member and suspended encounter specialist Sachin Vaze and co-accused Rajendra Tiwari, Rajaram Nikam and Sunil Desai appeared before the sessions court on Saturday.

The magistrate’s court had committed the case to the sessions court for trial in December.

The court has adjourned the case for framing of charges. “The case is likely to come up on March 29, when the court will frame charges,” said state Criminal Investigation Department (CID) special public prosecutor, R B Mokashi.

Yunus (27), a software engineer working in Dubai, was picked from Parbhani in December 2002. Vaze and his team claimed that Yunus escaped after the vehicle in which he was being taken met with an accident near Aurangabad in January 2003. A complaint was later filed against Yunus at Parner police station.

But a co-accused in the case, Dr Abdul Mateen, claimed that Yunus was tortured to death in custody. Yunus’s father Sayyed Khwaja Ayub, who is no more, filed a habeas corpus petition.