Badlapur sexual assault: Shinde’s mother refutes cops’ version of encounter

Mumbai: Alka Shinde, mother of Akshay Shinde, the suspect in the Badlapur sexual assault case, who was killed during an encounter on Monday evening, has refuted the claims made by the Thane police about the sequence of events that led to his death.
In an interview, she said, “I met Akshay around 4.30 pm in Taloja jail on Monday. I had been waiting to see him since morning but finally got a chance to talk to him for 15 minutes. He told me that the charge sheet had been filed in his case and asked if I was trying to get him out of jail. He said that when I visited him last Monday, he had been beaten by the police officials.”
She added, “This is pre-planned. This appears to be done at the behest of some political leaders.”
Alka Shinde questioned the police account, stating, “My son feared Diwali crackers. It is unbelievable that he took a gun and shot some rounds. As a mother, I witnessed his fear of fireworks. I would always drop him off at school or the office during Diwali because he was terrified of the noise.”
She continued, “He desperately wanted to have food cooked by me and until then wanted me to send him some money for buying food from the jail canteen.”
Expressing her doubts about the allegations against her son, Alka Shinde said, “During my jail visits, I always asked him if he had committed the crime, and he told me that he did not. However, even if he had committed it, the government and police should have faith in their own investigation and the courage to handle this case fairly. A fair punishment, even if it had been the death penalty, would have been justified. But this is a bigger crime that my son didn’t even get a chance to fight his case.”
She raised questions about the broader implications of the case, asking, “What happened to the big trustees of the school? Why can’t they be in police custody, because of money?”
Alka Shinde concluded with a vow to seek justice: “Because the police do not trust their investigation, they have done this crime. Akshay cannot do this, and I will fight for justice for him.”