Cop Who Shot Badlapur Rape Accused Worked With Top Encounter Specialist, Faced Suspension

Mumbai: The police team involved in the encounter of Badlapur rape accused Akshay Shinde included Sanjay Shinde, who in the past worked with suspended former cop Pradeep Sharma, known as an ‘encounter specialist’.

Akshay Shinde was arrested on August 17 for allegedly raping two nursery girls in the school’s toilet in Badlapur in Thane. Sanjay Shinde who made the fatal shot at Akshay Shinde in Monday’s encounter is now part of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed by the state government to probe the incident.

On Monday, a police team had gone to Taloja jail to take custody of Akshay Shinde in a rape and assault case filed by his first wife. When Akshay was being brought to the police station in a police van, he allegedly snatched the gun of a constable and fired at him. Then, Senior Inspector Sanjay Shinde fired back—critically injuring Akshay who later succumbed to his injuries at the hospital.

A constable, Nilesh More, also suffered injuries and is undergoing treatment.

ABOUT SANJAY SHINDE

The police inspector had previously worked with the anti-extortion cell of the Thane Police Crime Branch, then headed by Pradeep Sharma and was part of the team of the famed “encounter specialist” featured in the Netflix docuseries Mumbai Mafia: Police vs The Underworld.

This team was responsible for arresting underworld don Dawood Ibrahim’s brother Iqbal Kaskar from Thane in an extortion case in 2017.

Sharma had eliminated over 100 criminals during his career. He, however, was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment in the case of the fake encounter of Lakhan Bhaiya in 2006, who allegedly was the former aide of the notorious gangster Chhota Rajan.

Shinde also faced several department inquiries for questionable conduct. In 2000, he came under scrutiny in a kidnapping case, which was solved after a senior official interrogated him. Another inquiry was initiated after reports surfaced that he exchanged gunfire with a fellow officer while intoxicated at a bar.

In 2012, he faced suspension and an inquiry after Vijay Palande, a murder suspect, escaped police custody, and Shinde’s uniform was found in the SUV which Palande allegedly used to flee.

Despite these controversies, Sanjay was reinstated by the Mumbai Police in 2014, according to media reports.