Badlapur rape accused shot dead in police custody after firing at cops

Akshay Shinde snatched a police officer's weapon and opened fire at the cops. The officials retaliated, during which he sustained critical injuries.

In Short

• Rape accused snatched police officer's gun and opened fire
• Cops retaliated and the accused died in hospital
• He raped two girls, aged four and five, in a school toilet

A man arrested for raping two girls at a school in Maharashtra’s Badlapur, Akshay Shinde, was shot dead by police on Monday after he snatched an officer’s weapon and opened fire at the cops. Two police officials were also injured in the incident.

According to the police, the accused, Shinde, snatched a weapon from an officer and opened fire while he was being transported from jail in a police vehicle at around 5.30 pm. Several rounds of gunfire took place, during which police officers were also injured.

Cops opened retaliatory fire on Shinde, who was being taken to Badlapur from Taloja jail for investigation, officials added. He was critically injured in the firing, and later died in hospital.

The officials injured in the incident are Assistant Police Inspector Nilesh More and Inspector Sanjay Shinde, who shot the accused. Sanjay Shinde was involved in the arrest of Dawood Ibrahim's brother Iqbal Kaskar while he was attached to the Thane Crime Branch's Anti-Extortion Cell under encounter specialist Pradeep Sharma. He is a member of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed by the state to probe the Badlapur case.

The incident has stirred a political debate in the state, with the opposition raising questions about the incident, calling it a breakdown of the law and order system, while the government claimed it was an act of self-defence.

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said that the "police fired at him in self-defence”.

"It was this very opposition which said that the accused should be hanged and now when the accused shot at policeman, will the policemen protect themselves or not? I think it is wrong at the way this is being made into an issue," Fadnavis said.

Meanwhile, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi called it a textbook case of "shoot-and-scoot tactics." She said, “The accused is dead, and the other co-accused under POCSO, who were school board members as well as BJP office bearers, are on the run. Such a textbook case of shoot-and-scoot tactics applied by an incompetent government.”

“Coming soon, nobody sexually assaulted the 6-year-olds. A story written, sponsored, and executed by the state government,” Chaturvedi tweeted.

Shinde was arrested on August 17 for sexually abusing two girls, aged four and five, in a school toilet five days earlier. The incident sparked massive outrage amid protests held in the area. Shinde worked as a cleaner at the school.

The local police were initially probing the case, but the Maharashtra government set up a Special Investigation Team (SIT) following a public outcry over serious lapses in the police investigation. The SIT filed the chargesheet on Monday, September 16, against accused Akshay Shinde and members of the school management.

A case has also been registered against the chairman and secretary of the school under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act for not reporting the incident to the police immediately and for negligence. On Monday, the duo moved the Bombay High Court seeking pre-arrest bail.

In August, the Bombay High Court stepped in on its own to take notice of the case and is now overseeing the investigation.