‘Fake encounter’: Opposition after Badlapur sex abuse accused killed in police custody

The Opposition parties in Maharashtra criticised the state government after a man accused of having sexually abused two minor girls at a school in Badlapur died on Monday while being transferred from jail.

Congress leader and former Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan alleged that the man was killed in a “fake encounter” by the police to “save certain people”, The Indian Express reported. He also demanded the resignation of Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

“All the claims being made through the police by the government that the accused opened fire on scores of policemen escorting him is simply laughable,” he said. Fadnavis was attempting to protect those who run the school, Chavan alleged.

“I have heard that those who run the school are closely associated with Fadnavis,” he said. “Therefore, he may have orchestrated this encounter to shield his associates.”

The police have alleged that the accused person, Akshay Shinde, snatched a police weapon and fired at security personnel while he was being transferred from Taloja Jail to Badlapur in a police vehicle. He injured a police officer and was shot in retaliatory firing. The police took him to a hospital where he died, according to the official account.

Akshay Shinde was being taken to Thane in connection with a separate case of sexual assault filed by his second wife...

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