Badlapur rape case: Bombay High Court orders fast-track probe into killing of sexual assault accused Akshay Shinde

A division bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Prithviraj Chavan at the Bombay High Court on Thursday directed the magistrate to submit by 18 November an inquiry report into the custodial death of Akshay Shinde, the accused in the Badlapur school sexual assault case, reported PTI.

The bench also ordered that forensic experts collect, preserve, and check all evidence related to the case.

"Empty shells found were of two different arms. The firing pin of every gun is different. This can be a conclusive proof which firing arm will have which firing pin. We want to see a report showing this conclusively. We need to see his injury certificate. The bullet injury must also be having some residue so as to correlate which gun's bullet hit him," it added.

According to the details, the Bombay High Court bench emphasized the police to include strong forensic evidence in its probe into the incident where the accused was killed in a police shoot-out.

As per laws every custodial death has to be inquired into by a magistrate. Meanwhile, Advocate General Birendra Saraf said all relevant documents have been forwarded to the magistrate for inquiry. Following this, the High Court bench said the magistrate shall commence the inquiry and hear all parties concerned.

"The report shall be placed before us on November 18. The magistrate inquiry report is expedited," the PTI quoted the HC bench as saying.

The Bombay High Court was hearing a plea filed by the accused's father seeking a court-monitored probe into the death, being probed by the state Criminal Investigation Department (CID).

What happened on September 23?

On September 23, when the rape accused – facing allegations of sexually assaulting two minor girls at a school in Thane's Badlapur – was being transported back to Badlapur from Taloja jail in Navi Mumbai, the shooting incident occurred in which Akash Shinde died.

The incident happened near Mumbra Bypass in Thane as the police claimed Shinde allegedly snatched the gun of a policeman while he was being ferried in a police vehicle as part of a probe into a case registered against him on the complaint of his estranged wife.

With agency inputs.