Khwaja Yonus murder: 3 cops surrender

Three Mumbai Police constables who have been booked in the Khwaja Younus disappearance case, surrendered before ACP P K Padvi of the Maharashtra CID on Tuesday evening.

The constables - Rajesh Tiwari, Rajaram Nikam and Sunil Desai - all attached to the Ghatkopar unit of the Mumbai Crime Branch, were placed under arrest. "They will be produced in the special MCOCA court on Wednesday," Padvi told PTI.

The trio has been at large ever since the CID registered a case of murder against Assistant Police Inspector Sachin Vaze and them for allegedly murdering the bomb blast suspect.

Younus was being taken to Aurangabad by a Crime Branch team led by Vaze on January 7, 2003, when he allegedly escaped after the four-wheeler carrying the team reportedly met with an accident.

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Younus, police claimed, escaped with handcuffs on and could not be traced thereafter. On the other hand, his family members approached the court stating that he had mysteriously disappeared and should be produced immediately.

The family members of Younus suspect that he may have been a victim of custodial death. The prime witness in the case, Mateen, has alleged that he heard Younus being beaten up by police in custody.

The investigation of the Younus disappearance case, which was initially conducted by the Crime Branch was later handed over to the state Crime Investigation Department, which registered a case of murder against API Vaze and the three policemen.

Although Vaze was arrested, the trio had managed to evade the police so far.