Reacting to the social media posts and posters across Mumbai glorifying the Badlapur sexual assault case accused's encounter, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has asserted that people “should not praise such incidents”. He reiterated the Maharastra government's stand that the encounter of the Badlapur case accused Akshay Shinde was not "fake" and said, "if someone attacks police, they will retaliate."
“I was the CM and home minister of the state from 2014-19. For the past 2.5 years, I have been the home minister. I don’t believe in fake encounters. People should be punished as per the law. The sooner, the better. The rule of the law should be followed. In this case, we had filed the charge sheet in record time," he said according to CNN News18.
"One of the three wives of the accused filed a sexual assault case against him. We were taking him for investigation when he attacked. If someone attacks the police, they will retaliate. This led to a storm on social media. It is a medium which praises you, and even brings you down. So many reactions [such as ‘Badla Pura Hua’] came on social media. We shouldn’t praise such incidents," he added.
Akshay Shinde was killed in an exchange of fire inside a police vehicle when he was being taken to Badlapur from Taloja jail on Monday evening (September 23). Following the encounter, Shinde's father sought police protection for himself and kin claiming they were getting threats.
In a letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, state DGP Rashmi Shukla and Navi Mumbai Police Commissioner Milind Bharambe, Anna Shinde also alleged his son was killed in a conspiracy for political gains.
On Wednesday, the Bombay High Court noted there were discrepancies in the entire timeline of the case and asked for the call records of all the five people present in the police van at the time of Shinde’s death. The court also ordered that CCTV footage from the time Shinde emerged from the barrack and entered the van, and till the time his body reached the hospital, should be seized.