Akshay Shinde Encounter: The main accused in the Badlapur sexual assault case, Akshay Shinde, died on Monday after being shot at in retaliation when he snatched a police weapon and fired at a policeman, as per the account of the incident presented by the authorities. He was arrested last month after it was alleged that he sexually abused two young girls, aged three and four, at a kindergarten where he was employed as a cleaner.

Akshay's custodial death has sparked a massive political controversy in Maharashtra, where Assembly polls are due later this year. While Chief Minister Eknath Shinde cited preliminary information in saying that the police fired in self-defence, the Opposition collectively cast aspersion on the official version.

Speaking on the shooting, which left one policeman injured incident, Shinde said, "He (Akshay Shinde) was taken for investigation as his ex-wife has registered a case of sexual assault. He fired on a police personnel, Nilesh More who got injured and has been admitted to hospital. Police in self-defence took that action. More information will come out after investigation."

BADLAPUR ENCOUNTER: OPPN'S CHARGE

The sharpest criticism of the police and the state government came from Congress leader and former Maharashtra CM Prithviraj Chavan, who alleged that the main accused was "murdered in cold blood". "Nobody will believe that it was an encounter. It is a black day for Maharashtra Police as once upon a time it had a great reputation. I have demanded an inquiry from the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court who was in Mumbai at the same time... The real perpetrators of this crime will never be found."

Meanwhile, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi took to social media platform X to insinuate that the main accused was killed to shield the other accused in the case. "The accused is dead and the other Co accused under POCSO who were the school board members as well as BJP office bearers are on the run. Such a textbook case of shoot and scoot tactics applied by incompetent government. Coming soon, nobody sexually assaulted the 6 year olds. A story written, sponsored and executed by the state government."

A similar allegation was levelled by Maharashtra Leader of Opposition (LoP) and Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar, who said, "The Home Department and the govt tried everything to protect the accused... In the incident that happened today, the police fired in self-defence, I think there is something wrong with that. It might be an attempt to protect the people related to BJP and RSS by killing the main accused."

The Congress party has demanded a judicial probe into the incident. Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole stated, "Why the government is trying to protect the main culprits, the court should investigate this, this is the demand of the Congress party." 

Shiv Sena (UBT) spokesperson Anand Dubey said, "The Home Minister & Police should form an SIT to probe the matter as there are many doubts. The govt and Police should clarify and tell the public what happened."

NCP-SCP MP Supriya Sule also joined the opposition chorus, saying the ruling Mahayuti coalition's approach in the twin sexual assault case has been "shocking" all along. "The Mahayuti Government's approach to the Badlapur sexual assault case of two minor girls is shocking! Delay in the filing of FIR first, and now the prime accused is killed in custody! This is an absolute breakdown of law enforcement and justice system. This is inexcusable, it deprives the people of Maharashtra of justice," she posted on X.

(With inputs from agencies)