Won’t appoint new prosecutor in Yunus case till Oct. 14: Maharashtra

Bombay HC says there should be no sudden change in prosecutor in the custodial death case

The Maharashtra government on Wednesday told the Bombay High Court that it would not appoint a new prosecutor till the plea seeking to bring back the old prosecutor was heard on October 14 in the custodial death of 27-year-old . Those accused are then assistant police inspector (now dismissed) Sachin Vaze and three policemen — Rajendra Tiwari, Rajaram Nikam and Sunil Desai. They have been booked for murder, conspiracy and destruction of evidence and the trial against them commenced on May 3, 2017, at the city civil and sessions court. The court posted the matter for October 14.

The case dates back to 2008, when Yunus, who worked in Dubai as a software engineer, was visiting his family in India in December 2002. He was holidaying at his hometown in Parbhani, when a bomb ripped through a BEST bus in Ghatkopar, killing two persons and injuring over 50. He was picked up by the Ghatkopar police in connection with the blast and was remanded in police custody under the repealed Prevention of Terrorism Act. Eyewitnesses had said Yunus vomited blood for three days and then died in custody.

After prolonged efforts by Yunus’s mother Aasiya Begum Dhiraj Mirajkar, the third prosecutor in the case was appointed in November 2015. However, on April 17, 2018, the Maharashtra government “cancelled his appointment as a special public prosecutor [SPP].”