Sena (UBT) targets Fadnavis over encounter of Badlapur sexual assault accused

Mumbai, Jan 22 (PTI) The Shiv Sena (UBT) on Wednesday claimed that the magisterial indictment of five cops in the custodial killing of the Badlapur sexual assault case exposes the “falsehood” of Maharashtra Home Minister Devendra Fadnavis and the police department.

In an editorial in its mouthpiece ‘Saamana’, the party said that the “encounter” of the accused, Akshay Shinde, would not have been possible without the “consent” of the home minister.

A magistrate’s inquiry has held five Maharashtra policemen responsible for the custodial death of Shinde, the lone accused in the Badlapur school sexual assault case, and raised doubts on their claims of opening fire at him in self-defence in September last year.

Chief Minister Fadnavis, the deputy CM at the time, held the home portfolio then. He is also the current home minister of the state.

The editorial said there was always a “doubt” over the killing of Shinde.

“The court should also hold Thane police commissioner (the then), Thane’s guardian minister (Shambhuraj Desai), (the then) home minister (Fadnavis) responsible. This murder would not have happened without their consent,” the editorial said.

Shinde needed to be put through a trial and given the strictest punishment, said the party. He could have been tried, but Fadnavis, then CM Eknath Shinde, and the BJP had to create a “drama” out of the encounter, it said.

The editorial also asked why the killers of Santosh Deshmukh, the sarpanch of Massajoh village in Beed, were not killed in a similar encounter. The opposition has been targeting the government over the murder alleging the involvement of a close aide of NCP minister Dhananjay Munde.

The attack on Fadnavis comes days after the editorial heaped praise on him over his efforts to transform the Naxal-hit Gadchiroli district into a steel city.

The party also alleged that the BJP and the Shiv Sena held an “event” after the death of Akshay Shinde last year because they wanted to create a favourable atmosphere before the assembly polls. The BJP-led Mahayuti alliance scripted a landslide victory in the state elections.

Magistrate Ashok Shengde, in his report tendered in a sealed cover to the Bombay High Court on Monday, noted allegations levelled by Akshay Shinde’s parents – that their son was killed in a fake encounter – has found substance if all evidence, including forensic reports, are considered.

The magistrate said the “contention raised by the police personnel of right to private or self-defence comes under a shadow of suspicion” due to evidence and other circumstances.

Akshay Shinde (24) was arrested in August 2024 for allegedly sexually assaulting two minor girls inside the toilet of a school in Badlapur in Thane district. He was an attendant at the school. He was killed in an alleged shootout with police while being taken from Navi Mumbai’s Taloja prison for questioning on September 23.