Thane (Maharashtra): In a sensational development, Akshay Shinde – the prime accused in the sensational Badlapur rape case of two nursery school girls in August – met a gory end in a stunning police encounter after a gunfight with cops, here on Monday evening.
Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis confirmed Akshay Shinde’s death in firing by the police in self-defence, in which at least one more policeman was also injured, sending shockwaves in political circles.
Speaking to mediapersons, Fadnavis said that the accused was being taken from Taloja Jail (Raigad) to adjoining Badlapur town (Thane) after a proper warrant by the police for investigations into a sexual assault complaint lodged by his (Akshay Shinde’s) former wife last month.
En route, somewhere within the Thane Police jurisdiction, Akshay Shinde allegedly snatched a sub-inspector Nilesh More’s gun and fired at him and self, but the other police personnel immediately returned firing, injuring him seriously.
Akshay Shinde was critically injured in the gun-battle, while More sustained at least one bullet injury in the limb.
Both were rushed to the Kalwe government hospital for treatment, where Akshay Shinde succumbed, said the CM and Deputy CM, while more details of the incident that occurred around 6 pm.
According to local police and political sources, the entire episode lasted barely a couple of minutes even as additional police forces were rushed to the spot to ward off any untoward incidents, while the injured cop was shifted to another hospital.
Late tonight, Thane Police Commissioner Ashutosh Dumbre set up up a 15-member special team to probe the incident that started a war of words between the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi and the ruling MahaYuti government.
Soon afterwards, Akshay Shinde’s parents slammed the police and government for their son’s death and demanded that those responsible should be given the most stringent punishment for gunning down their only son.
The MVA leaders launched a blistering attack on the MahaYuti government and raised serious questions over the circumstances leading to the grim incident.
They unitedly demanded a probe by a Special Investigation Team or the CBI into the incident – which happened in the home district of CM Shinde – on a day when the Chief Justice of India D. Y. Chandrachud was in Mumbai for an official engagement.
Congress’ state President Nana Patole, Working President M. Arif Naseem Khan, Leader of Opposition Vijay Wadettiwar, Sachin Sawant, Nationalist Congress Party (SP)’s state President Jayant Patil, GS Dr. Jitendra Awhad, MP Amol R. Kolhe, Clyde Crasto and others, besides Shiv Sena (UBT)’s Sushma Andhare, Kishore Tiwari and many more, scathingly targeted the government.
The MVA bigwigs vociferously sought to know “whether this was a planned conspiracy and an attempt to destroy evidence”, protect those allegedly linked to the BJP-RSS in the sordid matter and wanted the case to be handed over to the CBI.
On August 12-13, Akshay Shinde had allegedly sexually assaulted two minor girls, aged 3 and 6, studying in the pre-kindergarten, at the Adarsh Vidya Prasarak Sanstha (AVPS) washroom premises.
When the bestial dual-rapes came to light after Independence Day celebration, it sparked a nationwide furore, led to a huge public protest in Badlapur with a rail and road blockage for over 10 hours, suspension of several cops for dereliction of duty and other tough measures to assuage the peoples’ sentiments.
The incident was echoed by the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and other top national and state leaders, even as Akshay Shinde was arrested and slapped with stringent charges under the POCSO, IPC and other laws.
Later, the state government appointed ace lawyer Ujjwal Nikam as the Special Public Prosecutor in the case and a Special Investigation Team was formed to probe the double-rape.
Meanwhile, Akshay Shinde’s body has been sent for an autopsy to a Mumbai government hospital.
(Quaid Najmi can be contacted at: q.najmi@ians.in / qnajmi@gmail.com)
–IANS