HC asks DGP to file affidavit in Khwaja Yunus case

Mumbai, Oct 19 (UNI) The Bombay High Court today directed state Director General of Police P S Pasricha to file an affidavit by tomorrow indicating whether he intended to grant his sanction for initiating legal proceedings against fourteen police officers allegedly involved in the custodial death of 2002 Ghatkopar blast accused Khwaja Yunus.

A division bench comprising justices J N Patel and R S Dalvi was hearing a petition filed by Yunus' mother seeking compensation of Rs 10 lakh for his death in police custody in 2003.

Yunus was arrested under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) for alleged involvement in the Ghatkopar bus blast that killed two persons four years back.

Police had claimed that Yunus had escaped from their custody taking advantage of an accident involving a police vehicle in which he was being taken to Aurangabad. However, a case was registered with the CID alleging his custodial death, CID special prosecutor R B Mokashi informed the court.

The CID had submitted a proposed chargesheet before the DGP and had sought sanction for initiating legal proceedings against fourteen police officers, allegedly involved in Yunus' death.

However, the DGP has not yet granted the requisite sanction.

State Government pleader Satish Borulkar told the court that eight officers had already been suspended while five had been transferred. One officer, named in the proposed chargesheet, continues to remain attached to the Crime Branch, Mumbai.

The court observed that if the DGP decided against giving his sanction for prosecuting the police officers, the court would itself go through the proposed chargesheet and, if it found the CID investigation to be unsatisfactory, the investigation would be transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

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