Mumbai: The Bombay High Court has pulled up the Maharashtra police in the Badlapur encounter case, where Akshay Shinde, a rape accused, was shot dead on Monday.
Chief Public Prosecutor Hiten Venegaonkar represented the Maharashtra government in the High Court before a bench of Justices Mohite Dere and Prithviraj Chavan on Wednesday. The bench noted that none of the committee members had received details or the court’s orders outlining their responsibilities.
Akshay Shinde, 24, was reportedly killed near the Mumbra bypass after allegedly grabbing a police officer’s gun while being transported in a police vehicle. A police officer was also injured in the exchange of fire.
Shinde had been accused of sexually abusing two girls at a school in Badlapur, located in Maharashtra ‘s Thane district.
The High Court expressed concern, stating that the shootout could have been avoided and questioned why the police did not attempt to overpower Shinde first.
Akshay Shinde’s father had filed a petition requesting a Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe into the encounter. The court also noted that, according to the post-mortem report, Shinde had been shot at point-blank range.
