What if Badlapur sex assault accused had run away: Eknath Shinde defends cops

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Wednesday said that the police fired in self-defence amid a political controversy over the death of Akshay Shinde, the man accused of sexually assaulting two small girls in Badlapur last month. The Chief Minister’s remarks at the India Today Conclave came just hours after the Bombay High Court raised serious questions over the custodial death of the accused, saying “This cannot be termed an encounter”.
“(It was) self-defence. Had he fled, the Opposition would have asked if the (police) guns were merely showpieces. They would have said that we allowed him to escape. The cops were injured in the encounter. We should support the police,” Eknath Shinde said at the Conclave in Mumbai.
He said Akshay Shinde had four wives and one of them had filed a case of unnatural sex against him and that she had called him a “monster”.
“The woman had filed an FIR against him (Akshay Shinde). She gave a statement and said he was a monster. He had four wives. Imagine what cruelty he had meted out to them,” he said.
“When he had sexually assaulted those girls (in Badlapur) who are the same age as his daughters, imagine what they (victims) had gone through. This is an unfortunate incident,” he said.
Eknath Shinde accused the Opposition of changing its stance over the Badlapur incident and said they were playing politics of hypocrisy.
“They had blocked railway services for nine hours at Badlapur railway station. They said that we would hang the culprit here. And now, when the encounter happened, they are blaming us. This is politics of hypocrisy,” he said.
The Chief Minister said the people of Maharashtra were very intelligent about who was playing politics over the incident, adding that they would give a befitting reply in the upcoming state Assembly polls.
On Monday, police said Akshay Shinde (23) was being taken to Badlapur from Taloja jail when he snatched Assistant Police Inspector Nilesh More’s pistol and fired at the escorting police team, injuring three cops. Shinde was then killed in retaliatory firing by police.
Akshay Shinde was being taken from Taloja jail to Badlapur in connection with a case of unnatural sex filed by his former wife. The encounter triggered a war of words between the Maharashtra government and the Opposition.
Earlier today, the Bombay High Court pulled up the Mumbai Police over the custodial death of Akshay Shinde, saying there appeared to be foul play and the incident could not be “termed an encounter”. The court also directed the police to preserve the CCTV footage from the time the accused was brought out of jail till he was declared dead at Shivaji Hospital.
The High Court was hearing the petition filed by the accused’s father, Anna Shinde, who sought a probe by a Special Investigation Team into his son’s death in the “fake encounter”.
Akshay Shinde, a sweeper employed at the school, was arrested on August 17 for sexually abusing two girls, aged three and four, in a school toilet, four days ago. The incident had triggered widespread protests with parents and other locals blocking railway lines at Badlapur railway station before the police removed them forcibly.