Badlapur encounter snowballs into a political controversy in Maharashtra

Police personnel at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Hospital after Akshay Shinde, an accused in Badlapur school sexual assault case, shot dead by the police in self-defence, in Thane, on Sepember. 23, 2024.
| Photo Credit: PTI

The encounter of Badlapur sexual assault accused Akshay Shinde on Monday snowballed into a full-blown political controversy with the ruling parties celebrating it and the Opposition calling it a foul play. Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said that as per preliminary information, the police were forced to open fire after the accused snatched away the service revolver and fired from it. But Sharad Pawar called the home department’s laxity ‘suspicious’, seeking an in-depth probe in the issue. The Congress sought a judicial inquiry by a sitting judge of the Bombay High Court.

“This was the same Opposition which had sought that a cruel accused like him should be hanged. Someone did such a terrible act to the little girls. How can the Opposition take the side of such an accused?” asked Eknath Shinde while speaking with reporters. His party’s Member of Parliament Milind Deora echoed his sentiment.

“The hue and cry raised by the Opposition over the death of Akshay Shinde is both despicable and irresponsible. The Badlapur accused opened fire on policemen and seriously injured API Nilesh More. What exactly does the Opposition expect? Should our police officers lay down their lives at the hand of a rape accused?” he tweeted.

But the Congress said that it was an effort to shield the other accused. Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole tweeted, “The school’s trustees have not yet been arrested in the Badlapur atrocities case. They are absconding. Why couldn’t they be arrested as yet? Is there an attempt to save the absconding accused or to wrap up the case by encountering the main accused? Has the police encountered the accused as a part of a senior level effort to suppress the entire issue? This matter should be investigated by a sitting judge of the Bombay High Court to reveal the truth.”

Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) leader Sharad Pawar said the government seemed to have weakened in ensuring fear of law among the accused in a way that “nobody would even think of such a reprehensible act in the future.” “To ensure justice to the two small girls in the Badlapur case, the accused should have been hanged as per the framework of law. But the laxity shown by the Home department while transferring the accused is suspicious. The truth of this incident should come out after a through probe,” he tweeted.

His daughter and MP Supriya Sule too questioned the Mahayuti government, calling its approach “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.

Meanwhile, Maha Vikas Aghadi ally Shiv Sena UBT’s spokesperson Sushama Andhare asked how a handcuffed accused could snatch a revolver, drawing attention to the family’s statements issued a fortnight ago, claiming that there were more accused in the case.

“Some questions are very critical in this matter. One must also think of the Hyderabad rape case and the encounter thereafter. The same justification of self protection has been used here as well. Akshay Shinde was not a Mahatma. He should have certainly been hanged, but as per the provisions of law. This process of law was followed for the country’s enemy Kasab as well. Then the same process should have been used for Akshay Shinde too. It is likely that certain key information and evidence has been buried with Akshay Shinde now,” she said.