Shot in the Dark

Yunus, a chemical engineer on holiday from his job in Dubai, was picked up on December 27, 2002, from his hometown Parbhani in central Maharashtra along with three others. One of the last persons who saw him was another bomb blast accused Dr Abdul Mateen at a police station in Ghatkopar, Mumbai. He gave a statement that on January 6, at 11.30 am, he saw Yunus sitting in just his undergarments with both his hands tied behind him. Yunus was taken into the next room where, Mateen says, he heard loud screams as if he was being whipped with a belt.

Mateen8217;s statement says that when he peeped from a hole, he saw three police officers sitting in front of Yunus asking him about his role in the bomb blasts. Yunus kept repeating that he was innocent.

In reaction, Mateen says, an officer caught Yunus by his hair and again repeated the same questions. Same answers. Afterwards one of the officers said: 8216;8216;Yeh aise nahi bolega he will not open up this way.8217;8217; Mateen says he heard severe blows, after which he saw Yunus vomit blood.

Mateen was moved to another crime branch unit in the city.

Sources in the police say Yunus was of puny build, hadn8217;t eaten for days, and could not 8216;8216;stand8217;8217; the questioning.

On January 10, Mateen heard that Yunus had 8216;8216;escaped8217;8217; from police custody when the vehicle he was travelling in met with an accident on the Ahmednagar-Pune highway.

The author of this fictitious escape is no blundering cop. Assistant Police Inspector Sachin Vaze 35, one of the most influential officers of the Mumbai Crime Branch. A computer whiz, with a phenomenal network of informants, he has 12 gangster 8216;8216;encounters8217;8217; to his credit. Vaze was given a clean chit in the preliminary departmental inquiry in the Yunus case and reinstated in the force.

Today, the court has spiked his FIR on the escape, calling it 8216;8216;maliciously false8217;8217;, ordered his arrest, a narco-analysis test and also an order for prosecution of other cops who supported Vaze8217;s theory on the escape.

Three constables travelling with Vaze on the night of the 8216;8216;accident8217;8217; have gone missing. Missing for over two months, they are believed to be in Mumbai.

The court has also ordered an inquiry, to be headed by the CID chief PPP Sharma, into the disappearance of Khwaja Yunus. The CID is to use Mateen8217;s statement to the police as an FIR.

A week after the order, Sharma said: 8216;8216;I am yet to receive a copy, so we haven8217;t filed the FIR yet.8217;8217;

Majid Memon, who represented Yunus8217; case in court, said: 8216;8216;The CID has already told the court that Yunus has been sent to another world. We have to wait and see how quickly they trace the body or the clues of its disposal.8217;8217; The CID have received anonymous letters detailing how Yunus8217; body was disposed of in Uran in Navi Mumbai.

Meanwhile, the police have had to let go seven of the 18 accused in the Ghatkopar blast case8212;for lack of evidence. Police Chief A N Roy says: 8216;8216;We had to recommend the prosecution to drop the charges, as we didn8217;t had enough evidence to prove.8217;8217; Of the remaining accused persons still on trial, two have retracted their confession and four cases are before the Central POTA Review Committee.

8216;8216;That is all the evidence they have,8217;8217; says a defence lawyer.

8212;inputs from Ujjayini Das-Panigrahi