A significant development occurred in the Badlapur school sexual assault case with a magistrate’s inquiry finding five police officers culpable in the custodial death of the accused, Akshay Shinde. The Bombay High Court, upon receiving the inquiry report, confirmed these findings during a hearing concerning a plea by Shinde’s father, Anna Shinde, who alleged that his son was killed in a staged encounter by the police.
Akshay Shinde, a 24-year-old school attendant, was arrested in August 2024, accused of sexually assaulting two minor girls within the school premises in Badlapur. In a controversial turn of events, Shinde was killed in September during what was reported by police as a shootout while being transported from Taloja prison for questioning. According to police reports, Shinde managed to disarm a police officer and opened fire, which led to police returning fire, resulting in his death.
This incident prompted a mandatory magistrate inquiry as required by law for all custodial deaths. The division bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Neela Gokhale, who reviewed the magistrate’s findings, stated that the evidence pointed towards the involvement of five officers present in the police van at the time of Shinde’s death.
As a result of the inquiry’s conclusion, the court mandated the registration of a First Information Report (FIR) against the involved officers and directed that a thorough investigation be conducted to determine the exact circumstances leading to Shinde’s death. The court has given the public prosecutor, Hiten Venegaonkar, a two-week deadline to designate an appropriate investigative agency to take over the case.
