Badlapur sexual assault case: MVA flags loopholes in Akshay Shinde encounter, slams Maharashtra govt

Mumbai: A day after Akshay Shinde, the main accused in the Badlapur sexual assault case involving two nursery school students was shot dead, the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi mounted a major offensive on the Eknath Shinde-led Maha Yuti dispensation by picking up loopholes in the police version.

The MVA (I.N.D.I.A) opposition bloc parties Congress, Uddhav Thackeray-headed Shiv Sena (UBT) and Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) slammed CM Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who is also the state Home Minister, and demanded a CBI or a court-monitored judicial probe.

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut asked where the 24-your-old sweeper learnt how to use a firearm.

“It has been said that Akshay Shinde attacked the police? When they escorted him, his hands were tied and his face was covered. So, what precisely happened? Who are Shinde-Fadnavis trying to protect? Maharashtra must know the truth,” he said.

Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Aaditya Thackeray wanted to know where the trustees of the Badlapur school are. “Why are they being protected by the BJP-Shinde regime? Will the cases against the citizens who protested be taken back? They were treated like gangsters. They simply were protesting against the refusal of the police to file a complaint from the victim for a week? Who was the police station protecting?” he asked.

NCP (SP) MLA Dr Jitendra Awhad said that the police version is baseless. “How can a handcuffed accused snatch the revolver of a policeman and fire at him when five more policemen are around?” he said.

Maharashtra Congress President Nana Patole said, “Has the encounter with the accused been done by the police as part of a high-level effort to suppress the whole matter? An inquiry should be conducted through the present judges of the High Court to reveal the truth of this matter,” he said.