New Delhi: The killing of Badlapur accused Akshya Shinde by the Maharashtra police has snowballed into a political controversy in the state. Union Minister Ramdas Athawale however feels that there is no need for politics in the matter and that the action taken by the police was just an action of self-defence.
Speaking to ANI, Athawale said, "The whole opposition kept demanding that the accused should be hanged. He had tried to snatch the gun and the police fired at him as an act of self-defence. There is no need to do any politics on him. The law and order in Maharashtra is still strong. The accused had to be hanged, and I don't think it is wrong if he was shot. The opposition has a different mindset and hence they are saying it is wrong. The government will investigate this matter."
Shiv Sena MLA Sanjay Shirsat said that the matter could have been taken to court but it was the accused who had pointed the gun at police who then responded.
"The people demanded to hang the culprit. The correct procedure to do this was to send him into custody and take the the matter to the court. However, when the accused pointed a gun at the police, the police, in action, fired at him. I agree that an investigation should be done properly by the police team. The whole case is on one accused, and more or less, it is good that he was shot. The opposition only wants to do politics on everything, that is their job. No case will be closed without an enquiry," he said.
Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Nirupam questioned the opposition saying that what would they have said if something happened to a policeman.
Speaking to ANI, Nirupam said, "I want to ask the opposition, don't you think that the victim's family got justice finally? Before the encounter, the accused had tried to snatch the revolver of the policeman, Would they do something if anything happened to the policeman? In incidents like this, the culprit should be punished. I support the Maharashtra police. My question is why has the politics only come out when the Maharashtra police shot down the culprit? What was the opposition doing when Mamata Banerjee protected the RG Kar culprit? I want to ask the opposition are you standing with the culprit or against them? When justice is served, then no politics should be done on this."
—ANI