Sanjay Raut on Badlapur encounter: 'Competition between Shinde, Fadnavis for...'
Akshay Shinde, a janitor accused of sexually assaulting two girls in a school, was shot dead in Mumbra after he allegedly snatched a policeman's gun.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut said on Thursday that a competition was underway between Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde and his deputy Devendra Fadnavis over the credit for the Badlapur sexual assault accused's encounter.
Earlier this week, Akshay Shinde, a janitor accused of sexually assaulting two girls in a school, was shot dead in Mumbra after he allegedly snatched a policeman's gun and fired at the police team.
"...A rapist should be given strict punishment and justice should be speedy. But it is wrong if the encounter is done for political gains," Raut told reporters.
"There is competition between the two (Devendra Fadnavis- Eknath Shinde). I am seeing for the first time in the country that there are two leaders in a government, one of whom is the chief minister of the state and the other is the deputy chief minister and there is a competition between them to take credit for the encounter," he said.
Also read: Sanjay Raut claims ‘big conspiracy’ behind Badlapur encounter: ‘Done to save…’
"This competition clearly shows how politics is going on in the state. During Devendra Fadnavis' tenure, more than 100 women have been raped and murdered over the last year. How many people were killed in encounters?..." he added.
The opposition and Shinde's family have expressed doubts over the police's version of the encounter. The opposition has asked that how could a hand-cuffed person snatch a policeman's gun and fire at them.
Shinde's mother claimed her son was even afraid of firecrackers.
Also read: Badlapur sexual assault accused shot dead: What happened in police van | 10 points
The Bombay high court on Wednesday observed that the shooting of Akshay Shinde could have been avoided.
A division bench comprising Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Prithviraj Chavan warned that the probe into the encounter must be conducted properly.
"If we find that the investigation is not conducted properly, we will be constrained to issue appropriate orders," the bench warned.
The bench said it was not suspecting the police's activities. However, it wanted them to "come clean on all aspects". It also directed the immediate transfer of all case files to the Maharashtra Crime Investigation Department (CID), which is probing the encounter.
With inputs from PTI, ANI
