Deputy commissioner of police and Mumbai police spokesperson Pranay Ashok broke the news to media that the Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh has withdrew suspension of Assistant Police Inspector Sachin Vaze and police constables Rajendra Tiwari, Rajaram Nikam, Sunil Desai and 14 other cops. API Waze was posted in Naigaon police headquarters. With Maha Vikas Aghadi coming to power and Uddhav Thackrey as Chief Minister of Maharashtra the return of these officers to department is speculated in political corridors.
API Sachin Vaze had killed several gangsters of the top criminal syndicates like Chhota Rajan and Dawood Ibrahim’s D-Company. Many know his proximity with Shiv Sena head Balasaheb Thackeray and Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and Sanjay Raut, after resigning from police department Vaze had joined the prestigious Dussehra Rally of Shiv Sena in 2008. This had set a new precedent as none of the policemen was allowed to enter Shiv Sena in the rally before. While in CIU, Vaze, registering his first encounter at Mumbai killed Vivek Kamble, who was wanted in several killings of Shiv Sena Shakha Pramukhs (Branch Heads). Vaze had also nabbed the remaining gang involved in these killings.
Vaze, who was facing murder charges in 2003 custodial death case of Khwaja Yunus, resigned from services on November 30, 2007. Khwaja Yunus, a suspect in December 2, 2002, Ghatkopar bomb blast case, was reported missing on January 7, 2003, after the police claimed he had escaped from the vehicle taking him to Aurangabad for investigation. Yunus’s family moved the high court, which transferred the case to the state criminal investigation department (CID). The CID, after investigating Yunus’s disappearance, concluded it to be a case of custodial death and booked Vaze and three other officers for murder and destruction of evidence.
Meanwhile, Sachin Vaze was not available for comments.
Mihir Desai, a senior counsel representing Khwaja Yunus’ family said, “The officers should not have been reinstated considering the fact that then the state government itself filed a charge sheet against them. This is nothing but a mockery of justice. There cannot be any valid justification, especially when the trial is pending and the cops are prosecuted by the government itself.”
Hussain, Khwaja’s younger brother said, “We are fighting this battle for years, but justice is now a far dream. It is really upsetting. We might take further legal steps after discussion with our lawyers, we are hoping for the justice to be delivered”.
