Maharashtra Government Vs Opposition Over Shooting Of Badlapur Rape Accused

The death of Akshay Shinde -- the man accused of raping two four-year-olds in Badlapur -- in police firing this evening is snowballing into a controversy ahead of the assembly elections in Maharashtra. Shinde was killed in retaliatory firing after he snatched the gun of a constable and opened fire on the police while being transferred from the Taloja jail to the Thane police station, the police said. The Opposition had questioned how a handcuffed man could snatch a gun, and alleged that it could have been an "encounter".