Two days after it questioned the version put out by the Thane police over the circumstances leading to the killing of Badlapur sexual assault accused Akshay Shinde, the Bombay High Court on Friday directed the Maharashtra police to find a secluded spot to bury Shinde’s body.
A HC division bench comprising Justice Revati Mohite Dere and Justice M M Sathaye issued a directive to this effective after the parents of their deceased-accused son Akshay Shinde told the court that they had been refused cremation or burial spots for the past five days since Shinde was gunned down in a police van.
The HC bench directed the police to inform Shinde’s family once the burial spot was identified so that the death rituals could be performed.
Currently, Shinde’s body is in the morgue of the state-run Sir JJ Hospital in Mumbai.
The HC directive to the police came during the hearing of a petition filed by Akshay Shinde’s father Anna Shinde seeking space for burial of his son.
During the hearing, Chief Public Prosecutor Hiten Venegaonkar informed the HC bench that burial grounds in Badlapur and nearby areas had refused permission for the burial of Akshay Shinde.
“Once the burial ground is finalised, Shinde’s family will be informed about it But the family need not make an event out of the burial. Let them do his death rituals quietly.
The family members will be taken to the burial spot escorted with police team,” Venegaonkar told the court.
Shinde’s family’s lawyer Amit Katarnavare said that the father of the deceased wanted a “decent burial” for his son. He said that the family was opting for a burial so that there was the option of exhumation in future – to which the judges said that the police are ready to do that.
It may be recalled that Akshay Shinde -- key accused in the sensational Badlapur child sexual assault --was shot dead at a point blank range while he was being taken from Badlapur to Thane in a van for investigation in another case on Monday evening.
A HC bench of Justice Revati Mohite Dere and Prithviraj Chavan had on Wednesday questioned the version put out by the police Shinde was shot by the police in self defence. Justice Chavan said “it is hard to believe” that a man of slight build as Akshay Shinde could be overpowered by the four policemen when he turned violent and pulled the slide back on a 9 mm pistol for firing which “requires strength”.
