Badlapur sexual assault case: Court keeps in abeyance findings indicting cops for 'encounter' of accused

Sessions Court keeps findings of Magistrate's inquiry on custodial death in abeyance, allowing State CID investigation to proceed independently.

In a partial relief to five policemen indicted for the custodial death of an accused in Badlapur school sexual assault case, a Sessions Court has “kept in abeyance” findings of a Magistrate’s inquiry report questioning the legitimacy of the alleged encounter.

Additional Sessions Judge D.R. Deshpande, in the order on February 21, however, said the probe being carried out by the State Crime Investigation Department (CID) into the custodial death shall proceed as it was being done independent of the Magistrate’s report.

The accused, Akshay Shinde, was arrested in August 2024 for allegedly sexually assaulting two minor girls inside the toilet of a school in Badlapur area of Maharashtra’s Thane district. He was an attendant at the school.

On September 23 last year, Shinde was killed in the alleged police shootout while being taken from Taloja prison in Navi Mumbai for questioning in connection with a case lodged against him by his wife.

Police claimed he snatched the gun of one of the cops in the police van, opened fire, and was killed in retaliatory firing.

He was shot at by Senior Police Inspector (PI) Sanjay Shinde. Assistant Police Inspector Nilesh More, the two constables and a police driver were also present in the van at the time of the shootout.

The Magistrate had in his report indicted Senior PI Sanjay Shinde of the Thane Crime Branch, Assistant PI Nilesh More, Head Constables Abhijeet More and Harish Tawade and Constable Satish Khatal.