Badlapur school sex abuse accused Akshay Shinde died in exchange of firing during an escaping bid on Monday. The primary information suggests that the accused snatched a gun from the police personnel and opened fire at them in a bid to escape. A police personnel also got injured in the incident.
How the incident unfolded
The accused's ex-wife had filed a case of unnatural sex against him and the Thane Crime Branch was investigating it. In connection with this investigation, an order related to a warrant of Shinde was taken from the court yesterday, after which today the Thane Crime Branch team was taking him from Taloja jail to Badlapur, but near Mumbra bypass, he snatched the revolver of an officer and fired three rounds. A cop fired at him. Shinde was admitted to Kalwa Hospital in Thane, where he died.
Badlapur was under the spotlight last month after two kindergarten girls were allegedly sexually assaulted by a male attendant at a private school there.
Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde's statement
Reacting to the incident, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said the accused's wife had filed a case of sexual harassment and while taking him to Badlapur for investigation the firing incident took place. The accused fired at the police personnel and he died in retaliatory firing by police, he added.
"API Nilesh More was shot at. Police fired in self-defense, this is the primary information I have received, the rest of the information will be revealed in a police investigation," the CM said.
Absolute breakdown of law enforcement and justice system: Supriya Sule
NCP-SCP MP Supriya Sule slammed the Mahayuti government in Maharashtra after the killing of accused in the police custody, saying it shows breakdown of law enforcement and justice system.
"The Mahayuti Government's approach to the Badlapur sexual assault case of two minor girls is shocking! Delay in the filing of FIR first, and now the prime accused is killed in custody! This is an absolute breakdown of law enforcement and justice system. This is inexcusable, it deprives the people of Maharashtra of justice," she said.
Congress demands judicial probe
Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole said, "We are coming to know that the accused in the Badlapur sexual assault case has died. We demand that no accused should be spared so that such an incident does not repeat." Why is the government trying to protect the main culprits, he asked. The court should investigate the incident, he demanded.
Chairman, secretary of school move HC for pre-arrest bail
In another development in the case that triggered state-wide outrage, the chairman and secretary of a school in Badlapur, where a male attendant sexually assaulted two girls, moved the Bombay High Court seeking pre-arrest bail.
A case has been registered against the duo under relevant provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act for not reporting the incident to the police immediately and for negligence. They approached the high court after a special court denied them anticipatory bail.
Their pleas came up for hearing on Monday before a single bench of Justice R N Laddha, and the court posted the matter for October 1.
Two girls, aged four and five, were sexually assaulted inside the washroom of the school by a male attendant last month. The Badlapur 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.
While the male attendant was arrested, the school's chairman and secretary have not been apprehended yet. Last month, the high court took suo motu (on its own) cognisance of the case and is supervising the investigation.
