In a recent development concerning the contentious Badlapur case, two Thane policemen have moved the Bombay High Court, denying allegations of a ‘fake encounter’ in the custodial death of a sexual assault case accused. The accused, Akshay Shinde, had been indicted for allegedly assaulting two minor girls in Badlapur town. The officers, Senior Inspector Sanjay Shinde and Assistant Inspector Nilesh More, submitted an interim application to intervene in the ongoing hearing, following a magistrate’s inquiry that implicated them along with three other officers.
The inquiry had cast doubt on the police’s narrative of self-defense during an incident where Akshay allegedly snatched a gun while being transported for questioning. This resulted in a shootout where Akshay was killed. The police claim the action was in self-defense; however, the magistrate’s report challenges this assertion, suggesting the encounter may have been staged.
The application by the officers asserts that excluding their testimonies would significantly damage their reputations and insists on the necessity of their involvement to ensure a fair hearing. The magistrate’s report, considered by a division bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Neela Gokhale, indicates substantial evidence supporting the encounter’s alleged staging, including forensic findings that Akshay’s fingerprints were not on the pistol he supposedly snatched.
