Badlapur case: Advocate reveals why accused Shinde turned ‘violent’ on police

Maharashtra’s special public prosecutor in the Badlapur sexual assault case advocate Ujjwal Nikam said the accused Akshay Shinde tuned violent and fired at police after knowing that he could not escape law, news agency ANI reported.
The advocate said the police had enough proof against Akshay Shinde and two charge sheets had been filed against him so far in the case. The victims also clearly identified the accused, Ujjwal Nikam claimed.
“The police had enough proof that if the matter had gone to court, he would have got death penalty. When the accused knows that there is no chance of him escaping, they can get violent. So, Akshay Shinde could be psychologically depressed and that’s why he attacked the police or tried to commit suicide,” Ujjwal Nikam told ANI.
He defended police action against the accused saying they fired only in retaliation to ‘save’ their lives and ended up with injuries on two of their personnel. “The police had to do a firing in retaliation and two policemen also got injured,” he added.
Opposition parties in Maharashtra slammed the Mahayuti government and raised suspicion on the circumstances leading to the encounter. Reacting to such allegations, Nikam slammed them for playing politics over the incident.
“Unfortunately, many leaders are doing politics on the incident. The truth will come out after the judicial inquiry…The trial will be conducted against the other accused in the Badlapur incident,” he said.
The family members of Akshay Shinde challenged the police claim that they fired at the accused in ‘self-defence’. They also alleged that the police pressured Shinde to confess to the crime and provide a statement.
“It is wrong to say that he first snatched the gun of a policeman and fired at him, and later the police fired at him in self-defence. The police got the confessional statement written by him under pressure to the effect that he has committed the crime. What they got written from him, he only knows,” Shinde’s mother and uncle told reporters outside the Kalwa hospital on Monday.
Shinde’s father also alleged that his son was being beaten up in police custody and also sent a chit seeking money. He also called for an inquiry into the ‘encounter’.
(With agency inputs)