Accused in Badlapur sexual assault case arrested for policeman's murder

Thane: The Thane police have filed a case of attempt to murder against Badlapur sex crimes accused Akshay Shinde after he allegedly opened fire on policemen, and a case of his accidental death, officials said on Tuesday.

Shinde was brought to Badlapur in Thane district of Maharashtra from Taloja Jail in Navi Mumbai on Monday evening. The incident took place at the time of the shooting that led to his death. The incident was in connection with an FIR filed against him on the complaint of his ex-wife, police said earlier.

Shinde, 24, was accused of sexually abusing two minor girls at a school in Badlapur.

Shinde, a contract cleaner at the school in Badlapur, was arrested on August 17, five days after he allegedly sexually assaulted the two girls in the school toilet.

He was killed near Mumbra Bypass in Thane on Monday night when he allegedly snatched a policeman's gun while he was being driven over in a police vehicle during investigation into a case filed against him on the complaint of his ex-wife, an official said earlier.

After shooting and injuring API Nilesh More, another officer of the police escort team fired at him and doctors at Kalwa Municipal Hospital declared him dead, the official said.

Following the incident, a case of attempt to murder and accidental death was registered against Shinde at Mumbra police station, a Thane police official told reporters.

He said Shinde tried to fatally attack a policeman by snatching a gun from him.

Since Shinde died during a police operation, another accidental death was also registered, the official said.

Both the cases are being investigated by the Thane police, he added.

Shinde, who is lodged in Taloja jail in connection with a sexual assault case involving two minor girls, was brought to Badlapur to investigate another sexual assault case filed on the complaint of his ex-wife, the official said.

Thane police have constituted a special team to investigate the case.

Officials of the special team have applied to the court for a transfer order. Based on this, he will be taken to Badlapur for transfer in the new case, he added.

After Shinde was shot, some locals in Badlapur distributed sweets and set off firecrackers.

They also displayed banners with messages such as “Rapists will not be spared.”

Meanwhile, a team of forensic experts examined the accident scene on Tuesday and collected evidence for the investigation, officials said.

The team collected the pellets used and blood samples on site, it said.

The Maharashtra Crime Investigation Department (CID) will investigate Shinde's death, officials said earlier in the day.

Shinde's body was shifted from Kalwa Civic Hospital in Thane to the government JJ ​​Hospital in Mumbai for post-mortem.

The autopsy will be carried out behind closed doors and in the presence of medical specialists, an official said.

The body was shifted to JJ Hospital by Mumbra police at 11:10 am and examined by Judicial Magistrate FC, Thane, hospital doctors said.