courtMumbai, Jan 17 (PTI) A key witness in the Khwaja Yunuscustodial death case today told a sessions court here that hehad seen senior police officer Praful Bhosale, now retired,and another officer assaulting Yunus in police lock-up.
Four police officials - Sachin Waze, Rajendra Tiwari,Rajaram Nikam and Sunil Desai - are facing trial on thecharges of murder, voluntarily causing grievous hurt to extortconfession, fabricating evidence and criminal conspiracy inthe case.
Twenty-seven-year-old Yunus was allegedly detained soonafter the December 2002 Ghatkopar bomb blast case.
While the police claimed that he escaped when he wasbeing taken to Aurangabad for questioning, a CID inquiryordered by the high court on a petition filed by his fatherrevealed that he had died in police custody.
The inquiry had indicted 14 policemen, but the governmentsanctioned prosecution for only four, who are on trial.
Trial in the case began in May last year.
The court today recorded the evidence of theprosecution's prime witness Mohammed Abdul Mateen.
Mateen told the court that he was detained by the citypolice for his alleged involvement in the 2002 Ghatkopar bombblast case along with Yunus and one other.
"Yunus was kept in a lock-up and I was made to sit nearthe passage way. I heard Yunus screaming and crying and Icould hear him being hit with a belt," Mateen said in hisevidence.
He added that when he was taken inside the lock up later,he saw two police officers sitting near Yunus, whose handswere tied and was stripped to his underwear.
"I know the police officers, who assaulted Khwaja Yunus.
They are - Praful Bhosale and Hemant Desai. They assaultedYunus on his chest and abdomen," Mateen said in his depositiontoday.
He told the court that he came to know the names of theseofficers when they used to come to court earlier during histrial.
Bhosale was the senior inspector of Ghatkopar police atthat time and was also indicted by the CID in its inquiry.
The government had refused permission to prosecute him.
The court will continue recording Mateen's evidence onFebruary 12.
While Mateen was accused in the Ghatkopar blast case, aspecial court acquitted him in 2005. PTI SP NPZMN.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.