Badlapur Case: Officer Who Shot Akshay Shinde Served With Top 'Encounter Specialist' Pradeep Sharma

Badlapur case: Sexual abuse accused Akshay Shinde was shot dead by police after allegedly seizing a constable's gun and firing at officers. His family has alleged that it was a case of an 'encounter'

Akshay Shinde, a 23-year-old man accused of sexually abusing two minor girls in Badlapur, Maharashtra, was shot dead by the police after allegedly seizing a constable’s gun and firing at officers. The incident occurred while Shinde was being transported from Taloja jail to Badlapur for further investigation. Assistant Police Inspector Nilesh More and Senior Inspector Sanjay Shinde were injured in the shootout, with Sanjay Shinde firing the fatal shot. Akshay was later declared dead at the Kalwa Civil Hospital.

It is pertinent to note that Sanjay Shinde, who fired the fatal bullet, had previously worked with famed 'encounter specialist' Pradeep Sharma. The two officers were part of the anti-extortion cell of the Thane Police Crime Branch, India Today reported. Notably, this team arrested underworld figure Dawood Ibrahim’s brother, Iqbal Kaskar, in 2017 in connection with an extortion case.

Pradeep Sharma joined the police force in 1983 and is known for killing over 100 criminals in the 1990s as part of his operations against the Mumbai underworld such as the Dawood Ibrahim and Chhota Rajan gangs. He was convicted in the 2006 fake encounter case involving Ramnarayan Gupta, an alleged aide of gangster Chhota Rajan.

Pradeep Sharma has been featured in the Netflix docuseries 'Mumbai Mafia: Police vs The Underworld'.

Sanjay Shinde, who previously served with the Mumbai Police, is currently a member of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) that is handling the Badlapur rape case. In the past, he faced inquiries for allegedly aiding murder accused Vijay Palande’s escape from custody in 2012, India Today's report stated. It was found out that both knew each other and the cop's uniform was found in Palande’s vehicle. Despite these controversies, Shinde was reinstated in 2014 by the Mumbai Police.

Badlapur Sexual Abuse Accused Akshay Shinde's Family Alleges 'Encounter'

Akshay Shinde’s family has contested the police's account, labelling it an "encounter" and calling for an independent investigation into his death. Akshay Shinde was a contractual sweeper at a school in Badlapur and had been arrested on 17 August on charges of sexually abusing two nursery school girls. His father, Anna Shinde, demanded a probe into the incident, while his mother and uncle suggested that the police had conspired with the school management.

"My son was afraid of bursting crackers and crossing the road. How can he shoot at policemen?" his mother asked, as quoted by news agency PTI. She also claimed that her son had been beaten in police custody and had sent a note to the family asking for money.

Police officials stated that Shinde was being transported as part of an investigation into a complaint filed by his former wife when he reportedly grabbed a policeman's weapon near the Mumbra Bypass. After injuring API Nilesh More, he was shot in retaliation by Senior Inspector Sanjay Shinde.