Maharashtra sets up commission to probe custodial death of Badlapur sex abuse case accused
The police claimed that he was shot in retaliatory firing, which led to his death.
The Maharashtra government on Tuesday set up a commission to investigate the custodial death of a man accused of sexually abusing two minor girls in Badlapur near Mumbai in August, The Hindu reported.
The single-member commission consists of Dilip Bhosale, a retired chief justice of the Allahabad High Court.
The accused, Akshay Shinde, allegedly sexually abused the minors on August 12 in their school, where he worked as a janitor. Four days later, one of the children reported the incident to her parents who approached the police. Shinde was arrested on August 17.
On September 23, Shinde died while he was being taken from Taloja Jail in Navi Mumbai to the Crime Branch office in Thane in connection with a separate case of sexual assault filed by his second wife in 2022.
The police claimed that he snatched a police weapon and fired at security personnel during his transportation. He injured a police officer and was shot in retaliatory firing that led to his death, according to the authorities.
Shinde’s death in police firing drew criticism of the state government from the Opposition parties in Maharashtra with Congress leader and former Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan alleging that the accused was killed in a “fake encounter” by the police to “save certain people”.
Shinde’s father, Anna Shinde, filed a petition in the Bombay High Court seeking an investigation by a Special Investigation Team into his son’s death while in police custody.
On September 25, the High Court questioned whether Shinde’s death allegedly in an exchange of fire with the police, could be termed as an “encounter”.
The court also asked why Shinde was shot in the head, and not on his hands or legs first, PTI reported. “How could we believe that the police, who were trained in firing, couldn’t overpower the accused?” it asked.
On Tuesday, the state home department notified the setting up of the commission to investigate the cause and consequences of events that took place on September 23, PTI reported. The investigation will focus on whether any individual, group or organisation was directly or indirectly responsible for the incident.
The commission will also examine events surrounding the incident and if the police’s response to the situation was appropriate.
It will suggest short-term and long-term measures to be taken by the police to avoid recurrence of such an incident.
