Badlapur rape accused Akshay Shinde died in a retaliatory fire after he reportedly snatched a gun from the police constable and open fired on the police on Monday. Two police officers also got severely injured while trying to stop him.
The incident occurred at 6:15 pm when Shinde was being taken to Badlapur in Thane district from Taloja Jail in Navi Mumbai in a police vehicle.
As per the reports of news agency PTI, when the vehicle reached near Mumbra bypass, Shinde snatched the revolver of one of the officers in the vehicle and fired two to three rounds, injuring Assistant Police Inspector (API) Nilesh More. In response, another officer opened fire on Shinde, injuring him. Two police officers were also injured when several rounds of bullets were shot in the act.
He was severely injured and was admitted to the hospital in Kalwa where he later died. API Nilesh More is undergoing treatment at the hospital.
As the news of Shinde's death spread, some people burst crackers in Badlapur town on Monday night.
According to PTI, a police officer said Shinde's postmortem will reveal if he had any previous injuries.
Shinde's parents had met him in Taloja Jail at 3:30 PM. They claimed to have received information about his death through TV channels and not from police.
Akshay Shinde's uncle told a Marathi TV channel that he met Akshay at Taloja jail on Monday and was told that police were beating him up on a regular basis.
Criminal lawyer Ujjwal Nikam said Shinde might have tried to end his life as two chargesheets filed against him showed sufficient evidence against him in the sexual abuse case. "Two chargesheets were filed against Shinde, and I was the public prosecutor in both cases. Going by the submitted documents, there was sufficient evidence against Shinde. Maybe because of that, Shinde tried ending his life. We cannot rule out this possibility. A judicial probe will bring out the truth in this case," Nikam said.
Asim Sarode, the lawyer for the two minor girls who were allegedly sexually assaulted by Shinde, said "While representing the two minor girls, I noticed it was becoming uncomfortable for the local politics of the Thane district and even for the educational institution where Akshay Shinde was working. Shinde's death in such a manner is killing of justice."
"Now, the case of sexual assault of the two minor girls will get sidelined. The case of these two minor girls was becoming difficult for the educational institute, as it is affiliated with a certain political family. Such a practice would lower the confidence of people in police and the judiciary," he told to a Marathi news channel.
Political leaders react to Shinde's death
Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and State Home Minister Devendra Fadnavis said police opened fire in self-defence, leading to Akshay Shinde's death. "Akshay Shinde's former wife has accused him of sexual assault and lodged a complaint against him. Police were taking Shinde (to Badlapur) to investigate this complaint. He snatched the gun of a policeman and opened fire at officials. He also fired in the air. Police shot at him in retaliation," Fadnavis said.
Other political leaders also reacted to the incident, with some praising and others criticising the incident. Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan said that the “encounter” was done to save “some other” people. Whereas, leader of the Opposition in the state assembly Vijay Wadettiwar said, “This is shocking. There should be a judicial probe into this incident.”
Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole has questioned if this “encounter” was done to save trustees of the school who have not been arrested so far.
Akshay Shinde was the prime accused of the Badlapur rape case where two minor girls were allegedly sexually assaulted. He was arrested on August 17, five days after he allegedly sexually abused the two girls studying in the kindergarten, aged three and four years, in the school toilet.
The Badlapur rape case shook the entire Maharashtra leading to protests across the state and a massive outrage in Badlapur leading to protests where people took to Railway tracks to protest and demand justice.
The state government formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate the case. The Bombay High Court, on September 3, directed the police to build a “watertight” case and do not file a charge sheet hurriedly under public pressure.
Akshay Shinde, who had married thrice, was also accused of forcing his second wife to have “unnatural sex” with him. The Boisar police had filed a case under Section 377 (unnatural sex) of the Indian Penal Code. They later transferred the case to Badlapur (East) station.
