Travesty of justice

Almost as soon as the police inspected the crime scene, the honorable minister declared emergence of Hindu militant suicide bomber in Yadav. The irony was hard to get over with: the severity of injury inflicted upon Yadav became a case against him. Lengths of wire that forced its way into his flesh bound the investigation for several days. Prompt police arrested his father and brother.

The Yadav theory crumbled soon as the skeptic press brought contrary witness accounts, and pointed out that similar injuries were suffered by previous bomb victims. By the time police admitted their wrong, five days of farce has been added to Yadav family's tragedy, 40 hours of which saw his father and brother behind bars.

We appreciate a now wiser minister's courage and honesty to admit to BBC that Yadav was "completely innocent." That is a good start, but more need to be done. Yadav's family deserves an official apology, and the country needs a few answers. Generally, even if someone is guilty, why should his family members be arrested for his fault?

Specifically, with JMB fingerprints all over, why police needed a second guess? Had the minister and police fed on each other's lead and speculation? So that we don't take our eyes off the ball at crucial time again, we need to learn the lessons from the Yadav case.