Badlapur case accused's encounter: Devendra Fadnavis says ‘shouldn't praise such incidents’ after posters surface

Maharashtra deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday reacted to the social media posts and posters across Mumbai glorifying the Badlapur sexual assault case accused's encounter, asserting that people “should not praise such incidents”.

According to Devendra Fadnavis, he does not believe in fake encounters, adding that people should be punished as per the law, reported CNN-News18.

Devendra Fadnavis also backed the Thane Police over the encounter, saying it only retaliated as the accused, Akshay Shinde, attacked them.

“In this case, we had filed the charge sheet in record time. One of the three wives of the accused filed a sexual assault case against him. We were taking him for investigation when he attacked. If someone attacks the police, they will retaliate. This led to a storm on social media. It is a medium which praises you, and even brings you down. So many reactions came on social media. We shouldn’t praise such incidents,” Devendra Fadnavis told CNN-News18.

Akshay Shinde, who was arrested for allegedly sexually abusing two four-year-old girls at a school toilet in Badlapur, was killed in an alleged shoot-out with police earlier this week. The incident took place while Akshay Shinde was being brought from Taloja Central Jail to the Thane Crime branch office under transit remand in another case when he opened fire on the police with their revolver near the Mumbra bypass.

A day after the encounter, posters featuring Devendra Fadnavis wielding a revolver and gun with the phrase 'Badla Pura' (revenge completed) appeared across Mumbai.

The encounter sparked a massive controversy between the ruling Eknath Shinde-led Mahayuti government and the opposition in Maharashtra, with the latter expressing doubts over the police's version of the incident.

What Bombay High Court said on encounter

The Bombay high court noted that there appeared to be a “foul play” over the custodial death of Shinde. It also noted that the shoot-out could have been avoided and asked the police why they did not try to overpower him.

“Why was the accused shot in the head directly and not in the legs or arms first…The moment he pulled the first trigger, the others could have easily overpowered him. He wasn't a huge, built up or strong man. This is very difficult to accept. This cannot be termed as an encounter,” Justice Prithviraj Chavan said.

Reacting to this, Fadnavis told CNN-News18 that the court is doing its job. “When it sees the material, there will be observation. Remarks are not observation,” he said.