The father of Akshay Shinde, who was accused in a sexual assault case in Badlapur, filed a petition in the Bombay High Court on Tuesday, demanding a special investigation team (SIT) probe into his son's death during a police encounter.
Anna Shinde claimed his son was killed in a "fake encounter" and called for an independent investigation monitored by the court. "The accused was in custody when he was shot dead in a fake encounter. This is a cold-blooded murder by criminals in uniforms," said Amit Katarnaware, Anna Shinde's advocate.
The petition is set to be heard by a division bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Prithviraj Chavan on Wednesday.
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Akshay Shinde, 24, who worked as a contractual sweeper at a school in Badlapur, was arrested on August 17 following public outrage over allegations of sexually assaulting two minor girls.
According to police, Akshay was being transported from Navi Mumbai's Taloja jail to Badlapur on Monday when he allegedly snatched a policeman's gun near the Mumbra bypass. During the incident, he reportedly shot and injured an assistant police inspector, prompting another officer to return fire, severely wounding him. Akshay was later declared dead at Kalwa civil hospital.
In response to the incident, the Maharashtra government announced that the state Crime Investigation Department (CID) will investigate the circumstances surrounding Shinde's death. A postmortem was conducted at Mumbai's JJ Hospital by a team of five doctors, following National Human Rights Commission guidelines. The body and postmortem report were subsequently handed over to the Mumbra Police.
Forensic science experts have been dispatched to examine the police vehicle involved in the incident as part of a broader effort to gather evidence. A CID team is also expected to visit the Mumbra bypass crime scene and take statements from officers present during the encounter.
(With Agency Inputs)