'Very difficult to accept': Bombay HC pulls up police over death of Badlapur assault accused

PTC News Desk: Bombay High Court on Wednesday asked tough questions to police about the events that led to the death of Badlapur sexual assault accused Akshay Shinde. The court also stated that there could be foul play and that an impartial investigation was needed into the incident.

The court was hearing a petition from Shinde's father, who claimed that his son was killed in a fake encounter and wanted an investigation by a Special Investigation Team.

A two-judge bench, led by Justices Prithviraj Chavan and Rajiv Mohite, stated that the police officer in question is an API and has been trained to deal with such situations. The bench stated that the officer should have targeted the legs or hands instead of the head, as is standard procedure.

The court further observed that the accused was a small man who could have been overpowered with the first pull of the trigger and that the police narrative was difficult to believe. "This cannot be called an encounter," the bench stated.

"It is difficult to believe this. Prima facie there seem to be issues. A common man can't fire a pistol because it needs strength. A revolver can't be unlocked quickly by a physically weak man. It is not very easy," Justice Chavan said. "The moment he pulled the first trigger, the others could have easily overpowered him. He wasn't a huge or muscular man."

Furthermore, the court accused the police of negligence for failing to handcuff a person accused of a major crime, however, the police claimed he was handcuffed at first but untied when he requested for water.