Akshay Shinde, accused of sexually abusing two four-year-old girls in Maharashtra’s Badlapur last month, was killed in an exchange of fire inside a police vehicle on Wednesday, according to multiple media reports. A policeman, too, was injured in the incident.
The dramatic incident unfolded near Mumbra Bypass around 6:30 pm when Shinde was transported from jail to a police station.
On the way, he allegedly snatched the service revolver of assistant police inspector Nilesh More and fired three shots, a News18 Marathi report stated.
It said one of the bullets hit More’s leg while the other two were off target. The policeman retaliated. An inspector, who too was in the van, fired back at Shinde in self-defence.
Shinde and More were taken to a hospital. Shinde died there due to his injuries, ANI reported, citing Thane police sources. The police haven’t confirmed the death of Shinde yet.
Shinde was arrested on August 17 after the girls’ parents insisted upon a formal complaint despite an initial delay in filing the FIR.
The police had claimed Shinde abused the two girls in the toilet of the school on August 12. He was appointed a cleaner on contract through a third-party company and joined on August 1.
The Badlapur police conducted an initial probe. After a public outcry over serious lapses in the police investigation, the Maharashtra government constituted an SIT.
The incident snowballed into a controversy, with the opposition saying that Shinde was killed in a “fake encounter” and demanded a judicial probe.
Leader of Opposition in Maharashtra Assembly Vijay Wadettiwar demanded a judicial inquiry into the incident. He said that the incident in which Shinde died was very shocking and suspicious.
