Mumbai: The Bombay HC slammed the Thane Police on Wednesday for the September 23 ‘encounter’ of Akshay A. Shinde, the prime accused in the brutal rape of two nursery school children in Maharashtra’s Badlapur town.
A division bench consisting of Justice Revati Mohite-Dere and Justice Prithviraj K. Chavan made the harsh observations during a hearing on a case filed by Anna Shinde through his lawyer, Amit Katarnavare.
Among other things, Shinde has described his son Akshay’s death as a fake encounter, requesting a SIT investigation into the Monday ‘encounter’, according to Advocate Katranvare.
During the hearing, the judge and the appellant’s counsel posed several unsettling questions to the police and the government lawyer before posting the matter for the next hearing on October 3.
The court found various flaws in the police’s claims of retaliatory firing’ at Akshay Shinde in self-defence, which resulted in his death near the Mumbra Bypass Road while he was being transferred from Taloja Jail (Raigad) to Badlapur (Thane).
“It’s difficult to believe… A layman cannot fire from a pistol as it needs strength. A weak person cannot do it as it’s not as easy as a revolver. Prima facie there is foul play,” said Justice Chavan.
The court questioned the police on why they were so careless with an accused, whether the pistol was already loaded, why it was unlocked, whether the accused (Shinde) was handcuffed, and whether the police were wearing uniforms or not.
According to Justice Chavan, Akshay Shinde fired three bullets, but only one hit the policeman; whether it was a direct strike or ricocheted, and where did the other two bullets land?
“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.
“It’s hard to believe the police narrative that he managed to snatch the pistol from a police officer and open fire… This is not an encounter… It cannot be termed as an encounter,” observed Justice Chavan on the police arguments.
The court also chastised the police team for failing to handcuff a person accused of a major crime, to which the police responded that he was indeed handcuffed but uncuffed because he wanted to drink water.
The division bench instructed the police to conduct a fair and impartial inquiry into the case, warning that if it discovered that the investigation was not being conducted correctly, it would be forced to issue the necessary instructions.
At the next hearing, the police are scheduled to rule on Anna Shinde’s complaint seeking an FIR against the implicated police officials in connection with his son’s ‘encounter killing’.
The courts also asked the police to turn over the essential case papers to the Crime Investigation Department (CID), which began its investigation into Akshay Shinde’s case from the Mumbra Police Station (Thane) on Tuesday.
Justice Mohite-Dere stated that preserving evidence is critical in this case, and any delay by the police (in transferring the case materials to CID) would lead to conjecture and doubt.
The judges ordered the police to submit to the court the whole video footage of the voyage from Taloja Jail to the injured Akshay Shinde’s arrival at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Hospital in Kalwe (Thane), as well as the CDR records of the relevant police personnel and autopsy details.
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The Badlapur locals celebrated and distributed sweets when the news broke of the ‘encounter killing’ of Akshay Shinde, 24, on Monday evening.
However, before the state Assembly elections, it resulted in a political slanging match between the incumbent MahaYuti government and the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi.
Akshay Shinde, a contractual sweeper since August 1, was accused of raping two nursery class girls aged 3 and 5 in the toilet of the Adarsh Vidya Prasarak Sanstha (AVPS) school in Badlapur on August 12-13 before being arrested on August 17.
He met a bloody end at the Mumbra Bypass Road on Monday at about 6 p.m. while he was being moved from Taloja Jail to Thane for an investigation into a harassment case filed by his wife.
Akshay Shinde allegedly attempted to flee by grabbing a police officer’s firearm, ASI Nilesh More, and firing at the cops before being shot and severely injured. According to the police, Shinde died from his injuries at a hospital.
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Quaid Najmi–IANS
