Inquiry into escape of POTA undertrial

A special court on Wednesday ordered a judicial inquiry into the escape of Prevention of Terrorism Act undertrial Sayed Khwaja Yunus Khwaja Ayub, an accused in the Ghatkopar bomb blast case, from police custody.

Ayub, an alleged activist of the Students Islamic Movement of India, had escaped on January 7 when he was being taken in a police jeep to Aurangabad for investigations. The jeep had overturned while the driver was trying to avert a head-on collision with a vehicle 90 km from Pune.

Designated judge A P Bhangale, ordering the inquiry on a plea made by the father of the accused, ordered the sub-inspector, two constables and the driver of the jeep to appear before him on January 27. All the four have been suspended from service pending a departmental inquiry.

The judge remarked that the police was under an obligation to produce the absconding accused before the court on Wednesday on the expiry of his remand period. However, he is still reportedly missing.

In a related development, the court remanded three other accused to judicial custody till January 31. They are Mohammed Abdul Matin Abdul Basit, Sheikh Mohammed Muzzamil Jamil Ahmed and Jahir Ahmed Bashir Ahmed Shaikh.

The blast, which had occurred in a BEST bus on December 2, had killed two persons.