The Bombay High Court on Wednesday, September 25, questioned the encounter of sexual assault case accused Akshay Shinde by police. A two-judge bench comprising of justices Prithviraj Chavan and Rajiv Mohite asked, "why was the accused shot in the head directly and not in legs or arms first."
Shinde, who was accused of sexually assaulting two minor girls, was shot dead by police during an incident on September 23, while being transported for questioning. During the hearing, Justice Prithviraj Chavan expressed skepticism about the police's actions, questioning why Shinde was shot in the head rather than in less lethal areas such as the legs or arms.
"The shoot-out of the accused could have been avoided. Why did the police not attempt to overpower him first?" the court asked, said that the need for a fair and impartial investigation into the incident, adding that it was hard to believe the police narrative. "This cannot be termed as an encounter," the bench added.
This comes after a petition filed by accused Akshay Shinde's father, Anna Shinde, who has demanded a Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe into what he alleges is a "fake encounter." In his petition, filed through advocate Amit Katranware, Anna Shinde claims that his son was killed in cold blood and that there are larger conspiracies at play.