Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Sept 24: Maharashtra’s Crime Investigation Department (CID) is likely to take up the ongoing investigation into the killing of Akshay Shinde, the accused in the Badlapur sexual assault case as the opposition suspected the police version of “encounter killing” of the accused and demanded a judicial probe, officials said on Tuesday.
The police inspector who shot Badlapur sex assault accused Akshay Shinde has claimed that he did so to protect his colleague and himself in “self-defence.” In his statement to the police after the incident, police inspector Sanjay Shinde said the accused, after shooting and injuring assistant police inspector Nilesh More, threatened the other cops in the police van saying he would not spare them and fired two shots.
The accused in the case was killed in an exchange of fire inside a police vehicle when he was being taken to Badlapur from Taloja jail, as part of a probe into a case registered on the complaint of his former wife on Monday evening. He was working as a sweeper on contract at a kindergarten school in Badlapur where he allegedly sexually assaulted two four-year-old girls.
The police said the Thane crime branch was escorting Akshay Shinde, arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting two four-year-old girls in the Badlapur school last month, from Taloja Central Jail to Thane for questioning related to a case registered against him last week by his estranged second wife at the Boisar police station.
The Badlapur rape accused was booked under section 377 (Unnatural Sex) of the Indian Penal Code and the case was transferred to Thane for investigation by the crime branch. The police team took his custody around 5:30 pm on Monday from Taloja jail, where he was lodged. With four armed officers in the vehicle, the accused was being taken to Thane when the encounter occurred.
According to the FIR registered, Sanjay Shinde has given a detailed account of what happened in the moments before the shooting. He said he was sitting next to the driver when More, who was sitting in the back with the accused, called him and told him that Akshay was abusing them.
“I was sitting next to the driver, while accused Shinde and constables were sitting in the back. I got a call from assistant police inspector Nilesh More on my cell (mobile phone) informing me that the accused…is abusing them and asking why and where he was being taken. That time, we were at Shilphata Road and had left from Taloja jail. I stopped the vehicle to go and sit in the back to pacify the accused,” he said in his statement.
Sanjay said when the vehicle reached the Mumbra bypass around 6.15 pm, Akshay snatched More’s pistol. But, the cop tried to stop him and, in the scuffle, the loaded weapon went off. More got hit in the thigh and collapsed in the van, he said. “Then the accused threatened me and other officials present in the car, and told us that he will not spare us and fired two bullets. To protect my colleague and myself in self-defence, I fired one bullet that injured him; he collapsed in the van and we overpowered him,” the inspector said.
Both the injured police officer and the accused were immediately taken to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Government Hospital in Kalwa, where Akshay Shinde was declared dead. The blood samples and four empty bullet shells have also been recovered from the vehicle where the encounter with the police and the accused took place.
Akshay’s family members have alleged a “big conspiracy” in the Badlapur case even as the Maharashtra government is firm that the cops acted in “self-defence.” The opposition, however, has demanded a judicial probe into the incident, questioning the chain of events.
Akshay’s killing will now be probed by Maharashtra’s Crime Investigation Department (CID). According to Thane police sources, the case would likely be probe as a “custodial death.” They said the CID would probe whether there were any violations in the SOP (standard operating procedure) on how to handle a prisoner.
A team of forensic science experts examined the police vehicle on Tuesday in which Akshay was allegedly shot by a cop. A team of CID officials would visit the spot at Mumbra bypass where the incident took place, officials said. Officials further said the CID would record statements of police personnel in the vehicle at that time and Akshay’s parents.
The body of the accused was taken from the Kalwa civic hospital in Thane to the state-run JJ Hospital for a post-mortem, which will be conducted in-camera in the presence of expert doctors.
One reason for the opposition doubting the veracity of the police version of the “encounter killing” was the background of PI Sanjay Shinde who has in the past worked with the anti-extortion cell of the Thane police crime branch when it was headed by former suspended cop Pradeep Sharma, known to be an “encounter specialist.” Sanjay Shinde is part of the special investigation team (SIT) formed by the state government to probe the Badlapur school sexual assault case.
Shinde was part of the team that arrested gangster Dawood Ibrahim’s brother Iqbal Kaskar. Pradeep Sharma had gained a lot of fame in the 1990s for his involvement in high-profile encounters of members of the Mumbai underworld, especially those linked to gangs led by Ibrahim and Chhota Rajan. But, he was later convicted and awarded a life term in the case of the 2006 fake encounter of Lakhan Bhaiya, who was an alleged former aide of Chhota Rajan.
Shinde has also served in the Mumbai Police but was suspended after an inquiry into the escape of a murder accused, Vijay Palande, from police custody. He was accused of aiding Palande as the police later found out that the two knew each other, and Shinde’s uniform was found in the accused’s car.
The alleged encounter of Akshay Shinde has drawn condemnation from the opposition parties who questioned the chain of events. They asked if this was a move to destroy evidence in a case that had triggered national outrage. In a post on X, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut shared purported footage of Akshay Shinde, questioning how someone whose hands were tied and face covered could attack cops. But, it was not confirmed if this video is from before the incident.
Shiv Sena (UBT) spokesperson Sushma Andhare equated the incident with the gunning down of four rape accused in Telangana in 2019. “There too the police claimed it was done in self-defence. However, due to the deaths, the truth never came out. The same will be the case with the Badlapur sexual assault. Was Akshay Shinde killed as he was hiding something more sinister? Why is the school management still on the run,” she said.
Echoing Raut, Andhare further questioned how Akshay managed to snatch a gun despite being handcuffed and how he knew how to operate the firearm. The deputy chief and Home Minister Devendra Fadnavis must throw some light on these questions, she said, adding that “it shows the state home minister’s inability to handle critical cases.”
The mother of Akshay Shinde refuted the claims of Maharashtra Police regarding the events that led to his death and alleged that he was killed as part of a ‘conspiracy.’ She said, “The police have killed our child. The school management must also be probed. The police got him to write something but we don’t know what it is,” his mother said. “My son was afraid of bursting crackers and crossing the road. How can he shoot at policemen?”
“He (Akshay Shinde) was taken for investigation as his ex-wife has registered a case of sexual assault. He fired on a police personnel, Nilesh More who got injured and has been admitted to hospital. Police in self-defence took that action. More information will come out after investigation,” Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said.
Mr Fadnavis also supported the government’s stance on the case and slammed the opposition for criticising the police. “He was taken to the hospital. Doctors will declare it later but the preliminary information that we have is that he has died. Opposition raises questions on everything, the same opposition was asking to hang him. If he had attacked the police, wouldn’t the police do the self-defence? It’s wrong to create any issue out of it,” Fadnavis said.
However, opposition leader Vijay Wadettiwar called for a judicial probe into the incident, terming the accused’s death as suspicious. “Is it an attempt to destroy evidence? Were Akshay Shinde’s hands not tied by the police during the transit? How could he reach for the gun, and how come the police were so careless? We demand a judicial probe in this matter,” he said.