‘Breakdown of law enforcement’: Opposition after Badlapur sex abuse accused killed in police custody

The Opposition parties in Maharashtra have criticised the state government after a man accused of having sexually abused two minor girls at a school in Badlapur died on Monday in an exchange of fire with the police.

The Congress alleged that the death of the accused was an attempt to protect other individuals in the case. The party’s state chief Nana Patole said that the trustees of the school had not yet been arrested.

“Is there an attempt to save the absconding accused or to wrap up the case by encountering the main accused?” Patole asked on social media. “Has the police encountered the accused as a part of a senior level effort to suppress the entire issue? This matter should be investigated by a sitting judge of the Bombay High Court to reveal the truth.”

The police have alleged that the accused, Akshay Shinde, snatched a police weapon and fired at security personnel, injuring a police officer. The accused was shot in retaliatory firing and taken to a hospital where he died, according to the police.

The incident took place when the accused was being taken to Thane in connection with a separate case of sexual assault filed by his second wife in 2022, The Indian Express quoted an unidentified senior police officer as saying.

Akshay Shinde allegedly sexually abused the minor...

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