27-years-old Khaja Rasul Shaikh was allegedly found lying dead on platform number 5 of Pune Railway Station on July 13, 1992. Khaja, who had returned to India to attend the wedding of his sister, had alighted from an airplane a Mumbai and boarded a Hyderabad-bound train.

The four policemen, who had been assigned to patrol on the platform, had allegedly searched Khaja's three suitcases before asking him to alight from the train. They had allegedly beaten up Khaja before stealing one of his suitcases.

The railway police had initially filed a case of accidental death in this connection. However, Khaja's post-mortem had revealed that he had been beaten to death.

The State CID(Crime) had launched afresh inquiry into the matter after Khaja's mother moved a series of applications before then railway police and the Home Department claiming that her son was murdered, the police officials said. The case remained shrouded in mystery for nearly six years, till inspector Vikas Kohok from State CID (Crime) filed the murder case on April 4, this year.

The First Information Report (FIR) filed by Kohok in this connection alleges that sub-inspector N B Hole, Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) V Y Jadkar, Head Constable D B Mane and Constable Karne (buckle number 505) and their one more accomplice whose identity is yet to be ascertained beat up Shaikh till he died before stealing his suitcase containing cash, ornaments and garments totally estimated around Rs 3 lakh.

Hole, who was transferred to the Pune city police about two years back, is at present posted with the Special Branch and Jadkar, who is still posted at the Pune railway police, has allegedly not reported on duty for the last somemonths.

Mane, who was working with the Railway Police Station at Pune Railway Station, works with the Detection of Crime Branch at the headquarters of Pune Railway Police while Karne, whose full name was not mentioned in the FIR, was transferred to Miraj only a couple of months back, the railway police said.

The four policemen have been slapped with the charges of murdering Shaikh (Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) of 1860); causing disappearance of evidence of an offence committed, or giving false information touching it to screen the offender, if a capital offence (Section 201 of the IPC); wrongful confinement for the purpose of extorting property, or constraining to an illegal act (Section 347 of the IPC) and abetment of any offence, if the act abetted is committed in consequence, and where no express provision is made for its punishment (Section 109 of the IPC).