Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Wednesday questioned the circumstances leading to the encounter of Badlapur rape accused and called for an impartial investigation into the matter.
A division bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Prithviraj Chavan said the shoot-out of Akshay Shinde could have been avoided if the police team had tried to overpower him and added it was very hard to believe that he managed to seize a pistol from a police officer and open fire. “It is hard to believe… It requires strength for the slider to pop. Cannot fire a pistol unless he is trained. If he has pulled… he must have had some idea… it is difficult to visualise unless the safety was kept open.”
“Why was he shot in the head and not in the legs or arms first? He wasn’t a heavily built or strong man. You said the accused fired three bullets towards the police. Only one hit the cop what about the other 2? Ordinarily, for self defence we fire at the legs. This raises serious doubts. This cannot be termed as an encounter,” the court further said.
In defence of the police officer’s actions, Hiten Venegaonkar, who was representing the police, said, “He did not have time to think… He was sitting right in front. .”
The judges called for an impartial investigation, stating, “If we see something… we will be inclined to pass an order.”
The HC also directed that all case papers should be immediately handed over to the Crime Investigation Department (CID), which would investigate Shinde’s death. “Why are the files not handed over to the CID yet? Preservation of evidence is vital. Any delay on your part would raise doubts and speculations,” the court said while further noting that the panchanama indicated a pistol was found in blood, yet the forensic officer could not lift any fingerprints.
Shinde was arrested on August 17, five days after he allegedly sexually abused two girls in a school toilet, and was lodged in Taloja jail in Mumbai. Subsequently, on a fresh case of sexual assault was filed by his former wife. The encounter took place when a police team on Monday was bringing Shinde from Taloja jail to the police station for questioning.
His father Anna Shinde, through lawyer Amit Katranvare, has filed a petition alleging that Thane police killed Shinde in a ‘fake encounter’ on September 23. He has demanded a Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe into the case.