The city police and the jail administration found itself in a spot of bother on Thursday after they discovered that an accused in the Shakti Mills compound photojournalist gangrape case had gone “untraceable” and could not be produced before the court. However, jail officials later confirmed that he was in prison itself and was not missing. The “lapse” came to light after special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam informed the sessions court that accused Siraj Rehman Khan, who was lodged in the Thane Jail, was “untraceable”. Mr Nikam’s reply came after principal judge Shalini Phansalkar-Joshi had asked as to why Khan had not been produced along with the three other gangrape accused — Vijay Jadhav, Kasim Bengali and Salim Ansari. Two days ago, the court had issued a production warrant for Khan, directing the Thane jail officials to produce him on Thursday. “Thane Jail authorities have communicated that Siraj Rehman Khan is not in their jail, while the Mumbai crime branch says he is in the custody of the Thane jail,” Mr Nikam told reporters. The judge has now summoned Thane jail superintendent on Friday for an explanation and adjourned the case till then. However, additional director general (prisons) Meeran Borwankar has denied reports that Khan was untraceable. “He is very much in Thane jail. I spoke to the head of the Thane prison. I don’t know what caused this confusion,” she said. Asserting that Khan has not escaped, U.T. Pawar, superintendent of Thane prison said, “I am checking as to what administrative reason it was that the accused was not produced before the court on Thursday.”
