Badlapur sexual assault case: Opposition questions the conduct of probe

Thane: Hours after Akshay Shinde, the prime accused in the Badlapur sexual assault case involving two nursery girls, was killed during a cross-fire with police, the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (INDIA) raised doubts over the encounter and the ongoing probe and questioned why the two trustees of the school are scot-free.

The opposition parties Congress, Uddhav Thackeray-headed Shiv Sena (UBT) and Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) refused to accept the police version that a handcuffed Akshay Shinde could snatch a revolver from the belt holster of the police personnel and open fire.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who hails from Thane and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who is also the state Home Minister, came under severe criticism of the opposition.

While Congress demanded a judicial probe, the Shiv Sena (UBT) sought a CBI probe.

“How can such a thing happen…have we become a banana republic,” asked former Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan.

State Congress President Nana Patole wanted to know why the two school trustees have not yet been arrested. “How can they abscond and police cannot find them,” Patole, a former Speaker of Legislative Assembly, wanted to know.

“Is there an attempt to close the case by ‘encounter’ of the main accused in this case to save the absconding accused Has the ‘encounter’ with the accused been done by the police as part of a high-level effort to suppress the whole matter,” asked Patole and sought a judicial probe by a sitting judge.

Leader of the Opposition in Legislative Assembly Vijay Wadettiwar said that the encounter was an attempt to destroy evidence. "How exactly did Akshay Shinde shoot? Were the accused Akshay's hands not tied when he was in police custody? How did he snatch the gun? How can the police be so careless?,” asked Wadettiwar.

"In the Badlapur case, on one hand, no action is taken against the directors of the institution when they are linked to BJP, on the other hand, today the accused Akshay Shinde shot himself, it is very shocking and suspicious. From the beginning we do not believe in the police in the Badlapur case,” he said.

State NCP (SP) President Jayant Patil, who is a former Home Minister, asked how an accused can lay hands in the firearm of a police officer. “There should be a probe,” he said.

Shiv Sena (UBT) deputy leader Sushma Andhare sought a CBI probe under judicial supervision. “The encounter seems to have an imprint of the Hyderabad encounter of four accused of gangrape-murder,” she said, adding that the educational institution is linked to the BJP.

Shinde, however, responding to the allegations said that the same opposition was demanding capital punishment. “The elections are approaching and they don’t have any issue in hand,” he said, adding that the Mukhya Mantri Ladki Bahin Yojana has eroded their base. “They are making baseless allegations,” he said.