Officer who shot Akshay Shinde was part of the ‘encounter specialist’ team led by Pradeep Sharma

Sanjay, who initially worked with the Mumbai Police, is now part of the special investigation team set up by the state government to probe the Badlapur sexual abuse case.

Mumbai: The cop who shot 23-year-old Akshay Shinde, the accused in the Badlapur sexual assault case in Maharashtra, was part of a team led by renowned ‘encounter specialist’ Pradeep Sharma. Senior inspector Sanjay Shinde shot Akshay near the Mumbra Bypass in Thane on Monday after he grabbed a constable’s gun and fired at a police officer in an attempt to escape. Police subsequently rushed him to a hospital, where he was declared brought dead.

Sanjay initially served in the Mumbai Police and is now part of the Special Investigation Team set up by the state government to probe the Badlapur sexual abuse case. He faced an investigation and suspension after an accused murderer, Vijay Palande, escaped from police custody in 2012. Reports say he faced another investigation when he exchanged fire with a police officer after getting drunk at a bar.

Pradeep Sharma in movies

NDTV reported that Sanjay was seen in the Netflix documentary series “Mumbai Mafia: Police vs. The Underworld“. He was part of the team that headed the Thane Crime Branch’s Anti-Extortion Cell. This team was credited with arresting underworld don Dawood Ibrahim’s brother Iqbal Kaskar in an extortion case in 2017. Besides that, Sharma was the subject of the 2014 Marathi crime thriller “Regge-like“, in which actor Mahesh Manjrekar played him.

Earlier this year, Sharma was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Bombay High Court for the 2006 fake meeting with Ramnarayan Gupta, suspected to be a close associate of gangster Chhota Rajan.

Shooting in Badlapur rape case

Akshay Shinde, the accused in the Badlapur sexual assault case, was arrested by the police five days after two minor girls informed their parents about the attack, which took place on the school premises in Badlapur town in Thane district. The shooting incident took place when Badlapur cops were heading to Taloja jail to take Akshay into custody in a fresh rape and sexual assault case filed by his first wife. When the police reached Mumbra Bypass in Thane, he grabbed a pistol and fired at the cops in an attempt to flee, prompting Senior Inspector Sanjay Shinde to shoot him dead.