24 September,2024 11:31 AM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Akshay Shinde in police custody. File Pic/Navneet Barhate
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray, on September 24, expressed severe concerns about the BJP-Eknath Shinde administration protecting certain individuals associated with the Badlapur school administration where the incident of sexual assault happened. Thackeray's comments came a day after Badlpaur encounter. Accused Akshay Shinde was shot dead by the cops on Mumbra bypass on September 23.
He questioned the role of the school's trustees, who are purportedly linked to the administration, and why they are exempt from accountability.
The former minister also raised an issue concerning Waman Mhatre, a Shinde Sena leader, who purportedly questioned a journalist's intent to cover the issue with an insensitive remark. Thackeray decried the absence of action against Mhatre and questioned the regime's decision to protect him.
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Thackeray also wanted answers about the treatment of citizens who protested after the police allegedly refused to file a case against the victim for one week. The demonstrators were arrested and handled like criminals, causing uproar. Thackeray enquired whether the regime would remove the accusations against the protestors, emphasising that their only action was protesting against them.
In a strongly worded social media post, Thackeray wrote, "The real question is: 1) Where are the trustees of the Badlapur school? Why are they being protected by the bjp- mindhe (Eknath Shinde) regime? 2) What about mindhe's local chap- Waman Mhatre who asked questioned a journalist why she was questioning the incident as if she herself had been raped. Why is he being protected?"
He further wrote, "3) Will the cases against the citizens who protested be taken back? They were treated like gangsters. They simply were protesting against the refusal of the police to file a complaint from the victim for a week? Who was the police station protecting?"
"It is understood that the trustees of the school have affiliation to the BJP. And they are being protected. Is it true? Will the regime answer," Aaditya Thackeray questioned after the Badlapur encounter.
Meanwhile, Sanjay Raut, reacting to the Badlapur encounter said that Maharashtra should know the truth. He, sharing a video and tagging Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis on X, wrote, "He attacked the police? When the cops took Akshay Shinde away, his hands were tied and his face was covered. So, what precisely happened? Who are Shinde-Fadnavis trying to protect? Maharashtra must know the truth."
Nationalist Congress Party (SP) Kalwa-Mumbra MLA Jitendra Awhad termed the police version as 'baseless" and questioned, "How can a handcuffed accused snatch the revolver of a policeman and fire at him when five more policemen are around?"
Awhad claimed that the ruling party will take full credit for the Badlapur encounter during the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly Elections. "It is for sure that they have planned and killed him," he said.
He further added that everyone knew who owned the school where the sexual abuse incident had taken place. "Who is that Apte?" he questioned.
