‘Balatkari bachao alliance’: BJP attacks INDIA Bloc over Badlapur accused encounter

Reacting to the INDIA bloc’s attack over the encounter killing of the Badlapur sexual assault accused, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday called the opposition’s group “Balatkari bachao alliance” (Save rapist alliance).

The accused, Akshay Shinde, was shot dead by the police on Monday night after he allegedly snatched a policeman’s gun and fired at them. The opposition has called for a probe into the encounter.

“Badlapur sexual assault accused Akshay Shinde died after being shot at by police in retaliatory firing. On one hand, Maharashtra and Badlapur have taken a sigh of relief whereas on the other hand, parties of the INDI alliance are mourning the death of a rapist. Is this a ‘balatkari bachao alliance’?” said BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla.

Attacking the Mamata Banerjee government, he said the INDI alliance tried to save the accused in the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital rape-murder.

“They tried to protect the accused Moeed Khan in the Ayodhya gangrape case…Some leaders of the Congress party and INDI alliance have started speaking in favour of rapists…This is very shameful,” he said.

BJP spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari said every leader of the Congress party and INDI alliance stood in support of the rape accused.

“In the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital rape-murder incident, the Mamata Banerjee government was trying to protect the accused. Akhilesh Yadav was trying to protect the accused Moeed Khan in the Ayodhya gangrape case. Rahul Gandhi said that the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital rape-murder incident is a distraction…Today, when action is taken as per law in the Badlapur incident, the leaders of Congress call it a cold-blooded murder. They never stand with women but they stand with their vote bank,” he said.

Shinde, 24, was accused of sexually assaulting two minor girls at a school in the Badlapur town of Thane.

He was killed near the Mumbra Bypass in Thane on Monday evening after he allegedly snatched the gun of a policeman while he was being ferried in a police vehicle.

His family members have rejected the police’s allegation that he snatched the gun and fired at them. His mother said Akshay was even afraid of firecrackers.

The Leader of the Opposition in the assembly, Vijay Wadettiwar, said his death was suspicious.

“Is it an attempt to destroy evidence? Were Akshay Shinde’s hands not tied by the police during the transit? How could he reach for the gun, and how come the police were so careless? We demand a judicial probe in this matter,” he said.

Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole demanded a probe under a sitting high court judge.

In a post on X, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray said, “The Badlapur case accused deserves to be hanged until death but what happened today evening is reckless and suspicious. Soon, people will start coming forward who will try to reap political gains and even pat their own back. Who is trying to save the directors of the school management board? Why have they not been found? Is today’s incident and they being on the run connected? There should be a neutral inquiry of this matter.”