Badlapur Accused Encounter:  The father of Akshay Shinde, the Badlapur accused who was killed by Thane police in an alleged self-defence gun shooting, approached the Bombay High Court on Tuesday, PTI reported. In his petition, Shinde's father sought a special investigation team (SIT) probe into his son's death, which he claimed was killed in a fake encounter.

Akshay was accused of sexually assaulting two minor girls at a school in Thane's Badlapur. While he allegedly committed the crime on August 12, Shinde was arrested on August 17 after the girls informed their parents about the incident. The incident sparked huge outrage in the town, with people taking to the streets and jamming railway tracks.

Anna Shinde, father of accused Akshay, filed the petition through advocate Amit Katarnaware. "The accused was in custody when he was shot dead in a fake encounter. This is a cold-blooded murder by criminals in uniforms," advocate Katarnaware said.

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A division bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Prithviraj Chavan will hear the plea on Wednesday.

"My Son Scared Of Crackers, How Can He?"

Anna Shinde questioned the police statement that his son snatched the police weapon and fired shots at the policemen.

"We want justice," Anna Shinde said.

"My son was scared of bursting crackers, how can he snatch a pistol from a police officer and open fire," he said.

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"The family would have accepted the verdict delivered by the court after a trial, but we are poor people; we don't have a voice," he said, claiming that police killed his son for some unknown reasons.

Police reported that Shinde was being transported from Taloja Jail in Navi Mumbai to Badlapur on Monday evening, in connection with an FIR filed by his former wife, when a fatal shooting occurred.

The incident happened near the Mumbra bypass, where Shinde allegedly grabbed a policeman’s gun from the escort team. After he shot and injured an assistant police inspector, another officer opened fire, leading to his death. He was later declared dead at Kalwa Civil Hospital.

The Maharashtra government announced on Tuesday that the state’s Crime Investigation Department (CID) will investigate the circumstances surrounding his death.