The police arrested the 24-year-old accused Akshay Shinde on August 17. He was interviewed on September 23. He was accused of sexually abusing two girls.
The Bombay High Court has questioned Akshay Shinde's encounter with two nursery school girls in Badlapur. The court asked the Maharashtra government, how can we accept that 4 officers could not handle one accused. He was also handcuffed, if it was a self-defence situation, the accused would have been shot in the leg.
The bench said that if the officer who fired the shot was an assistant police inspector, it cannot be said that he did not know how to react. He must know where to fire.
The court said that as soon as the accused pressed the trigger, 4 people could easily control him. He was not a very strong man. This is very difficult to accept. This cannot be called an encounter. The next hearing will be held on October 3.
Akshay's father has filed a petition in the Bombay High Court over the encounter, which is being heard by a bench of Justice Revathi Mohite Dere and Justice Prithviraj Chavan. Akshay's father has demanded formation of a Special Investigative Team (SIT) to probe the encounter in the court.
Bombay High Court's question, state government's reply…
Court: Was the officer who took Akshay Shinde from Crime Branch of Thane Police?
State Government: Yes.
Court: Was the place where the incident took place empty or were there settlements and houses nearby?
State Government: On the right were hills and on the left was a small town. As soon as the incident was reported, Akshay and the injured policeman were taken to the hospital.
Court: What hospital did you take, how far was it?
State Government: Shivaji Hospital near Kalwa. The journey was about 25 minutes. This was the nearest hospital.
Court: How can there be negligence when the accused of such a serious crime is caught? What is the SOP, was he handcuffed?
State Government: She asked for water.
Court: You took fingerprints from the pistol?
State Government: Fingerprint was taken by FSL.
Court: You say the accused fired 3 shots, the policeman was hit by one shot, where did the remaining 2 shots go? Generally, in self-defense do we shoot the leg or the arm?
State Government: The officer did not pay attention to this, he simply reacted.
Court: How can we believe that there were 4 officers in the vehicle and one could not handle the accused?
State Government: It was an on the spot reaction.
Court: Couldn't have been avoided? There is a police train. Police are trained. Does the common man even know that shooting in the leg is in self-defense? What is the name of the officer who shot the accused?
State Government: He is an Assistant Inspector of Police (API).
Court: Then the officer can't say he doesn't know how to react, he has to know where to fire. As soon as the accused pressed the trigger, 4 people were able to press it easily. He was not a very strong man. This is very difficult to accept. This cannot be called an encounter.
State Government: An investigation should be done by several independent agencies to arrive at a conclusion. State CID and ACP are investigating it.
Court: Did you get fingerprinted by a police officer? Fingerprint all the officers, we are looking at this case from every angle. Instead of waiting for a forensic team, you should take the fingerprints yourself. Where is the CCTV footage?
State Government: We asked to preserve footage of government and private buildings along the way.
Court: We need one more thing. Ask the forensic team to find out whether the accused was shot from a distance or at point blank range. Where was he shot? Even if policemen are also involved in this, we want an impartial inquiry into the matter. We do not doubt, but we want the truth. Has any FIR been lodged by the father of the accused?
State Government: No.
Court: Are the firearms properly confiscated?
State Government: Yes, these are sent to FSL.
Akshay's Father: A case was registered under POCSO a day before the incident. We want to bury the body, but cannot find a place for it.
Court: It appears from the postmortem report that the bullet was fired from a point blank range. Was any weapon provided to the accused? You say he took away the pistol?
State Government: Weapons are not provided. He didn't grab the pistol, it fell during the scuffle.
Court: We want the CCTV footage from the time the accused was taken out of the jail till he was declared brought dead at the hospital to be preserved.
Thane police had an encounter with the accused in this van. Police officers investigated him on Tuesday morning.
Badlapur Sexual Exploitation Case, Understand in 4 Points…
August 12: Accused joined school on August 1, sexually assaulted on August 12-13
Accused of raping girls, Akshay Shinde was working as a cleaner in the school. He was appointed on contract on 1st August. On August 12 and 13, he sexually abused two girls, aged 3 and 4, studying in kindergarten in the girls' washroom of the school.
After the incident, both the girls were scared to go to school. The girl's parents got suspicious and questioned their daughter. After this the girl told the whole thing. The girl's parents then spoke to the other girl's parents. After this, a medical test was conducted on both the girls, in which sexual abuse was revealed.
August 17: Accused was arrested on August 17 after the girls called him Dada
Police interrogation revealed that the girl used to call accused Shinde as Dada (Marathi word for elder brother). According to the girl, 'Dada' opened her clothes and touched her inappropriately. There were no women employees in the school where the incident took place.
When the families of both the girls reached the police station to file a case, the police also delayed registering the FIR. The victim's family sought help from social workers. Two days later, on August 16, late at night, the police filed a complaint. The police arrested the accused on August 17.
August 20: People stop trains, throw stones at police, vandalize schools
On August 20, protesters broke open the main gate of the school, entered and ransacked it.
A crowd demonstrated at Badlapur station from 8 am to 6 pm on August 20 regarding the incident. The movement of local trains was stopped for more than 10 hours. In the evening, the police vacated the railway track by baton charge. After that, the crowd also pelted stones on the police.
Cabinet minister Girish Mahajan reached Badlapur station to talk to the protesters, but had to turn back. After this, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis announced the formation of SIT. Apart from this, the government said that the case will be tried in a fast track court.
The state government suspended three policemen, including a woman police inspector of Badlapur police station, for delay in registering the case. Apart from this, some school staff including the principal were also suspended.
The inspector who shot at the accused caught Dawood's brother
Inspector Sanjay Shinde, who shot Akshay who raped girls in a school in Badlapur, was the head of the Thane Crime Branch's Anti-Extortion Cell. He was also in encounter specialist Pradeep Sharma's team. The same team arrested Iqbal Kaskar, brother of underworld don Dawood, in 2017.
On March 19, the Bombay High Court sentenced encounter specialist Pradeep Sharma to life imprisonment. He was convicted in the 2006 fake encounter case of a close associate of gangster Chhota Rajan. A documentary series has also been made on the story of Pradeep Sharma's team encounter.
An investigation was also conducted against Sanjay Shinde in 2012. In 2012, Vijay Palande, accused in two murder cases, escaped from police custody. Sanjay's uniform was found in the SUV in which he fled. In the year 2000, he also came into controversy in a kidnapping case.
After the Badlapur encounter, a poster of Devendra Fadnavis in Mumbai, revolver in hand, read – Badla Pura
No organization is named in the poster put up in Mumbai.
Several posters have been put up in Mumbai's Bandra Kala Nagar on Wednesday morning after Akshay Shinde, accused of raping a minor girl in Badlapur. Three pictures of Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis have been placed in it.
In the pictures, Fadnavis is seen with a gun and an assault rifle. 'Badla Pura' is written on this saffron colored poster. At present, Fadnavis's reaction has not come out in this matter. The information about who put up the poster has not come out.
Image Credit: (Divya-Bhaskar): Images/graphics belong to (Divya-Bhaskar).
