A magisterial inquiry has confirmed that Akshay Shinde, the accused in the Badlapur School sexual assault case, was killed in a fake encounter. Anyone with even the barest details of the case would have known that he was killed by the police. Shinde, who had been in poor health, was being transported for treatment when he allegedly snatched a gun from a police officer escorting him, prompting the police to shoot him in self-defence. A third-rate detective story writer could have come up with a better script. The police portrayed Shinde as a dreaded terrorist, though he was a school employee responsible for nursery and kindergarten students. He allegedly misbehaved with girls aged 3–4, a charge that was never proven. Initially, the school authorities tried to hush up the case.
The school and police acted only when protests against their inaction snowballed massively. When Shinde was arrested, mobs were baying for his blood. If the then Mahayuti government thought eliminating him was a signal service to the state, they were mistaken. It was a victory for those afraid of the truth coming out. A proper investigation could have led the police to the real culprits who misbehaved with the children. Maharashtra has had many so-called encounter specialists who were actually criminals in disguise. That is how the inquiry describes the five police personnel who fabricated the false encounter story to justify the cold-blooded murder.
Shinde deserved a fair trial and punishment—not death at the hands of trigger-happy police officers. Now, it is their turn to be tried and punished, along with those in the government who emboldened them to act so brazenly. The argument that the criminal justice system is slow does not hold water, as the government could have set up a special court to expedite Akshay Shinde’s trial.
