The Thane police have registered a case of attempt to murder against Badlapur sexual assault crime accused Akshay Shinde, after he allegedly opened fire at cops, and also filed a case of his accidental death, officials said on Tuesday.

Akshay Shinde was being taken to Badlapur in Maharashtra’s Thane district from Taloja jail in Navi Mumbai on Monday evening in connection with an FIR registered against him on the complaint of his former wife when the firing incident took place, which resulted in his death, police earlier said.

Akshay Shinde, 24, was accused of sexually assaulting two minor girls at a school in Badlapur.

A contractual sweeper at the school in Badlapur, Akshay Shinde was arrested on August 17, five days after he allegedly sexually abused the two girls in the school toilet.

He was killed near Mumbra bypass in Thane on Monday evening when he 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 former wife, an official earlier said.

After he shot and injured API Nilesh More, another officer from the police escort team fired at him, and he was declared dead by doctors at the Kalwa civic hospital, the official said.

Following the incident, a case of attempt to murder against Akshay Shinde as well as a case of his accidental death have been registered at the Mumbra police station, a Thane police official told reporters.

He said Akshay Shinde tried a fatally attack police personnel by snatching a pistol.

As Akshay Shinde died in police action, another case of accidental death has also been registered, the official said.

Both the cases are being investigated by the Thane police, he added.

Akshay Shinde, who was lodged at the Taloja jail in connection with the case of sexual assault with two minor girls, was being taken to Badlapur for an investigation into another sexual assault case filed on the complaint of his former wife, the official said.

A special team was formed by the Thane Police to investigate the case.

Officials of the special team had sought a transfer warrant from the court. Based on it, he was being brought to Badlapur for transfer in the new case, he added.

After Akshay Shinde was shot dead, some locals in Badlapur distributed sweets and burst firecrackers.

They also displayed banners with messages like “rapists will not be spared”.

Meanwhile, a forensic experts team examined the incident spot on Tuesday and were collecting evidence for investigation, officials said.

The team collected the used pellets and also blood samples from the spot, they said.

Maharashtra’s Crime Investigation Department (CID) will conduct a probe into the death of Akshay Shinde, officials said earlier in the day.

Akshay Shinde’s body was taken from the Kalwa civic hospital in Thane to the state-run J J Hospital in Mumbai for post-mortem.

The post-mortem will be conducted in-camera in the presence of expert doctors, an official said.

The body was brought to the J J Hospital by Mumbra police at 11.10 am and inquest was done by the Judicial Magistrate FC, Thane, doctors from the hospital said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Mumbai:

The mother of the 24-year-old school sweeper, who is accused of raping two nursery girls in Maharashtra’s Badlapur, has challenged the police claim of the events that led to his death in custody yesterday. Akshay Shinde snatched the gun of a constable and shot a police officer inside the police van, and was injured in retaliatory firing by the cops, the police had said. He died at the hospital.

His family denied that he could fire at the cops, and alleged they had pressured him to confess his role in the rape case.

“My son was afraid of bursting crackers and crossing the road. How can he shoot at policemen. The police also got the confessional statement written by him under pressure. What he was made to write, only he knows,” the accused’s mother and uncle told reporters last night.

Anna Shinde, father of Akshay, has also demanded an inquiry into his killing.

Videos last night showed his family demanding that the police show them his body, but the cops refused. They were also seen outside the locked gates of the Kalwa civic hospital hoping to get a glimpse of their son’s body.

The family alleged a conspiracy by the cops and the school management and refused to receive his body last night. The opposition in Maharashtra too alleged Akshay was killed in an “encounter”.

A high-level probe has been ordered into his death.

Akshay’s family said he also told them he was beaten up by the cops and that he had sent a chit seeking money. They further claimed he was not depressed. “The police have killed our child. The school management must be probed as well,” the family has alleged.

She said the charges against Akshay were not proved and he used to ask her when he will be released.

Akshay was arrested in August after the sexual assault case of the two nursery girls sparked massive public protest. His shooting occurred yesterday when officers from Badlapur had gone to Taloja jail to take custody Akshay in a new rape and assault case filed by his former wife.

When the police team carrying Akshay neared Mumbra bypass, he snatched the gun of a constable and opened fire at cops escorting him, said the police. The cops retaliated, injuring Akshay and he died at the hospital. A constable, Nilesh More, who was injured in the firing, is undergoing treatment.

Kalwa-Mumbra MLA Jitendra Awhad of the Sharad Pawar faction of the NCP have also termed the police version as “baseless” and questioned how someone with handcuffs could snatch a gun when he was surrounded by five cops.

Special Public Prosecutor advocate Ujjwal Nikam said the police had enough proof against Akshay and he would have got death penalty if the matter had gone to court.

“When the accused knows that there is no chance of him escaping, they can get violent. So, Akshay Shinde could be psychologically depressed and that’s why he attacked the police or tried to commit suicide and police had to do a firing in retaliation and two policemen also got injured,” he told ANI.