After the police encounter that led to the death of Akshay Shinde, accused in the Badlapur sexual assault case, opposition parties have raised several questions regarding the operation. However, the government has consistently defended the action. Home Minister Devendra Fadnavis, in interviews with various news channels over the past few days, has repeatedly stood by the police's actions. The recent bulldozer action on an illegal religious site in Dharavi also sparked a debate. During an interview with Zee News, Fadnavis was asked whether Maharashtra was drawing inspiration from Uttar Pradesh’s model of using bulldozers and encounters to deal with criminals.
Fadnavis responded by saying that the police’s actions in the Akshay Shinde case were justified. "Shinde fired at the police first. In such situations, the police cannot simply fold their hands and appeal for peace. They had to fire back in self-defense. The police did nothing wrong, and calling this a fake encounter is incorrect," he said.
Speaking about the petition filed by Shinde's parents in the High Court challenging the encounter, Fadnavis stated, "The matter has not yet come before the court. The court has made some observations, but what is said in court isn't as important as what is written in its orders. The court has not made any written remarks about the encounter. Therefore, questioning the legitimacy of the encounter is inappropriate."
When asked if Maharashtra is drawing inspiration from Uttar Pradesh’s use of bulldozers and encounters, Fadnavis replied, "There are many things to take inspiration from Uttar Pradesh. They built the Ram temple, we can be inspired by that. But we don’t need to draw inspiration for encounters. Once upon a time, Maharashtra led the way in development, and now, Uttar Pradesh is making progress too, which is encouraging. But Maharashtra is ahead of all states. We don’t need to look to others for inspiration."