Badlapur case: Akshay Shinde's father moves HC, seeks SIT probe into 'fake encounter'

NEW DELHI: The family of the deceased accused in the Badlapur sexual assault case moved the Bombay high court on Tuesday, seeking the establishment of a special investigating team to probe the alleged "fake encounter."
"The accused was in custody when he was shot dead in a fake encounter. This is a cold-blooded murder by criminals in uniforms," advocate Katarnaware said.The petition will be heard by a division bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Prithviraj Chavan on Wednesday.
This comes a day after Akshay Shinde was killed near Mumbra bypass in Thane on Monday evening when he allegedly snatched the gun of a policeman while being ferried in a police vehicle as part of a probe into a case against him on the complaint of his former wife.
The opposition also tore into Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government over the incident and accused it of trying to shield the pro-BJP Badlapur school management. The Uddhav Thackeray-led faction demanded a High Court-monitored probe into the incident, terming it an example of "state-sponsored terrorism".
Though the encounter was suspicious, there is no need to show sympathy for such a person (Akshay Shinde, said Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut.
"This murder or encounter that has taken place was done to save the main accused (the school management)," he added.
Questioning the circumstances of Shinde's death, Raut asked, "How convincing is it that a janitor snatches a gun from a policeman and fires a locked weapon? This is a basic question".
Meanwhile, Maharashtra's Crime Investigation Department (CID) will conduct a probe into the death of the accused Akshay Shinde.
As the incident is concerning death in police custody, it will be investigated by the Maharashtra CID, a senior official said on Tuesday.
A contractual sweeper at the school in Badlapur, Shinde was arrested on August 17, five days after he allegedly sexually abused the two girls in the school toilet.