SIT takes custody of accused again for tracing his mobile phone

A Thane court granted a three-day police custody of Akshay Shinde, accused of sexually assaulting two 4-year-old girls in Badlapur, to aid investigation.

Badlapur sexual assaults case:

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THANE: A special POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Act court on Tuesday granted three-day police custody remand of Akshay Shinde, the accused in the Badlapur sexual assaults case. The order came after the Special Investigation Team (SIT), probing the sexual assaults on two 4-year-old girls at a pre-primary school in Badlapur East where Shinde worked as a cleaning staff, on Tuesday approached the special court for his custody remand to trace his missing mobile handset.

On August 30, the SIT formally arrested Shinde in the second sexual assault case - also registered at the Badlapur police station. He was produced before the special court which remanded him to judicial custody for 14 days and he was sent to Taloja jail.

On SIT’s request, Shinde was on Tuesday again produced before the special court, after police claimed that Shinde had hidden his mobile phone which could be a crucial piece to lead further investigation in the case and to ascertain if he had assaulted any other girls in the school or outside.

Additional public prosecutor Ashwini Bhamrepatil argued for remand on two main grounds and demanded police custody for five days. First, the police need to locate and confiscate the mobile phone of the accused as it was a crucial piece of evidence in the two cases and the accused had not disclosed its location. Second, the SIT had information suggesting that the accused had sexually assaulted other girls as well and remand was necessary to investigate the allegations further, gather additional evidence, and interview witnesses at the school where the incidents occurred.

The defense lawyer objected to the remand request, arguing that all necessary details had already been provided and that a five-day custody was excessive.

The special court, however, overruled the objection and granted three-day custody of Shinde to the SIT headed by IPS officer Aarti Singh.

The Badlapur police had on August 16 registered an FIR against Shinde for allegedly sexually assaulting two junior kindergarten girls in the school premises. The delay in registering an FIR had caused a huge uproar in the area leading to outbreak of protests by local people who also blocked the Central Railway line for around 9 hours. The protests spread to other parts of the state also.

The investigation revealed that the accused was helping children clean themselves in the girl’s toilet and this has raised concerns about the possibility of him having assaulted more children at the school, making further investigation critical.

Meanwhile, the Kalyan court has granted bail to around 105 protestors arrested by the Government Railway Police (GRP) for blocking Central Railway line for around 9 hours on August 20, said advocate Vishal Kedar, who argued many of the bail pleas.