"Why did police shoot in Akshay Shinde’s head": Bombay High Court suspects foul play in Badlapur rape accused encounter

Mumbai: Observing that it is not easy for a lay man to fire from a pistol, the Bombay High Court on Wednesday spotted loopholes in Maharashtra Police’s version on the cross-firing which led to the custodial death of Badlapur sexual assault accused, saying there appeared to be some foul play.

The court was hearing a plea filed by the father of 23-year-old Akshay Shinde, an accused in the Badlapur sexual abuse case, who was shot dead on Monday in allegedly retaliatory firing after he opened fire at a police team to escape custody.

The petitioner has sought a probe into the alleged “fake encounter” of his son.

Division bench consisting of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Prithviraj K Chavan questioned the tactics used by the police, asking why accused Shinde wasn't handcuffed while being transported in a police vehicle.

The court stated that the claims of the accused opening fire at the cops were hard to believe.

“It’s difficult to believe… a lay man cannot fire from a pistol as it needs strength. A weak person cannot do it as it's not easy as a revolver. Prima facie there is foul play,” court observed.

The court picked many holes in police contention of “retaliatory firing” at Shinde in self-defence that led to Akshay his death near the Mumbra Bypass Road, when he was being shifted from Taloja Jail (Raigad) to Badlapur (Thane).

“The police are trained… They know exactly where to fire a bullet… Why did they shoot in (Akshay Shinde’s) head… They should have shot him in the arm or a leg as per the SOPs. There were four policemen at the back, two in the front and two beside the deceased… How could they not overpower a small, weak man sitting in the back of the police van while pulling the trigger the first time,” the court asked.

The court also pulled up the police team for negligence for not handcuffing a person accused of a serious crime, to which the police said that he was actually in handcuffs, but the cuffs were removed to allow him to drink water.

The division bench asked police to conduct a fair and impartial probe into the matter, virtually warning that if it found that the investigation was not being done properly, it would be constrained to pass appropriate orders.

At the next hearing, the police is expected to give its response on Anna Shinde’s complaint seeking a FIR against the concerned police officers pertaining to his son’s encounter killing.

The judges also directed the police to hand over the relevant case papers to the Crime Investigation Department (CID) which has initiated its probe into Akshay Shinde’s case from the Mumbra Police Station (Thane) from Tuesday.

Justice Mohite-Dere said that preservation of evidence is vital in the case and any delay by the police (to transfer the case papers to CID) would lead to speculation and doubts.

The judges directed the police to provide the entire video footage of the journey from Taloja Jail till the injured Akshay Shinde was rushed to the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Hospital in Kalwe (Thane), the CDR records of the concerned police officials, the autopsy details, etc. to the court.

Shinde was accused of raping two minor children in a school in Badlapur in August.

When the parents of the victims went to file a complaint, the police didn’t register it and kept them waiting for twelve hours. Finally, the complaint was filed under pressure from the workers of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS).

Despite that, the police didn’t take any immediate action. Seeing this apathy, the locals staged a violent protest at the Badlapur Railway Station, compelling the government to order an inquiry into the matter.