Badlapur Sex Assault Accused Dies In Shooting After Snatching Cop’s Gun

The police said officers from Badlapur had gone to Taloja jail to take custody of Shinde. They wanted to question him in connection with a new case filed by his first wife. The woman, who left him five days after their wedding, has accused him of rape and assault. 

Around 6:30 pm, when the police team reached near the Mumbra bypass, Shinde snatched the gun of a constable and fired several rounds, injuring him. In retaliation, another officer shot Shinde, leaving him critically injured. He was taken to the hospital where he died. The constable, Nilesh More, who was also injured, is under treatment at a hospital. 

What the opposition said

The shooting is snowballing into a controversy ahead of the assembly elections in Maharashtra, with the opposition questioning how a handcuffed man could snatch a gun, and alleged that it could have been an “encounter”. 

Leader of Opposition in the assembly Vijay Wadettiwar questioned if it was 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?” he said. There is no action against the “BJP-linked” school management but an arrested accused is shot dead in suspicious circumstances, he said. “We have no trust in Badlapur police,” he added, calling for a judicial probe. 

Veteran leader Sharad Pawar, who leads his faction of the Nationalist Congress Party, posted on X, “The laxity shown by the Home Department in transferring the main accused in this incident is questionable. It seems that the government has become weak”.

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.

What the state government said

“Earlier, the Opposition parties demanded that Akshay Shinde be hanged,” said Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. “Now, they are taking his side and questioning the integrity of Maharashtra police. Such act of the opposition leaders is condemnable and unfortunate,” he added, explaining that the police shot him in self defence.

“The Opposition raises questions on every issue,” said Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who holds the home portfolio.  “They (the opposition) had wanted him to be hanged. It is wrong to say such things when the police tried to save lives,” he added, while seconding the chain of events described by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. 

The case

Akshay Shinde, 23, was appointed on a contractual basis to clean school washrooms on August 1. But within days, he allegedly raped the four-year-olds in the school’s washroom. He was arrested on August 17 — five days after the children reported the assault to their parents. 

Coming on the heels of the horrific rape-murder of a young doctor at a Kolkata hospital, the incident had led to massive protests in the town in Thane. Thousands had blocked railway lines for hours and had to be forcibly removed by the police.

The Bombay High Court, which had taken up the case on its own, had sharply criticised the police investigation, especially pointing to its deviation from rules in the questioning of the children. 

“The mandate of the law is not followed by Badlapur police,” the judges had said. 

“They attempted to record the victim girl’s statements at the police station. There is complete non-compliance with the mandate. Asking the victim and her parents to come to the police station for a statement recording is completely insensitive and against the law,” they said.

The school also came in for criticism, with the court questioning their process of vetting the recruits and allowing male cleaners and attendants inside girls’ washrooms.

The government later formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by senior IPS officer Arti Singh to probe the sexual assault case. Sources had said the SIT has sufficient evidence against Shinde. It became stronger after his family members gave statements. His father and brother had apparently said that he was mentally fit but had a cruel streak.

The school is also under investigation by the SIT, which has alleged that it did not comply with the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO), which mandates that every authority, when they come to know about sexual offences on minors, are obliged to report it to the police. Two of the school’s trustees are on the run.