THE Supreme Court on Monday said, Maharashtra’s Director General of Police (DGP) will constitute an SIT to probe allegations against five policemen for the custodial death of Badlapur sexual assault case accused Akshay Shinde. Shinde, accused of sexually assaulting two minor girls at a school in Badlapur in Thane district, was allegedly shot in a police van on September 23, 2024, when he was being taken to Kalyan from the Taloja prison for questioning in another case. An apex court bench of Justices Bela M Trivedi and Prasanna B Varale passed the order on a plea filed by the Maharashtra Government challenging the Bombay High Court’s April 7 ruling.

 

The High Court had ordered an FIR against five policemen for Shinde’s custodial death and the setting up of a special investigation team under the supervision of Lakhmi Gautam, Joint Commissioner of Police, crime, Mumbai. Modifying the High Court’s direction, the apex court said the Maharashtra DGP would constitute the SIT which would continue the probe.