We will find secluded spot to bury Akshay Shinde: Thane police to HC

MUMBAI: The Thane police on Friday informed the Bombay high court that they will find a secluded spot to bury Akshay Shinde, the accused in the Badlapur sexual assault cases who was killed by the police in “retaliatory firing” on Monday.
The court was adjudicating on an application filed by Anna Shinde, father of Akshay Shinde, stating that the Ambernath Municipal Council was not granting permission for his son’s burial. Shinde’s lawyer also reiterated that the family has been receiving death threats and urged the authorities to grant them appropriate police protection.
Responding to the plea, public prosecutor Hiten Venegaonkar pointed out that since the family was desperately looking for burial space, the police were under the impression that there was a custom in their community of burying the dead. However, after enquiring with the elders from the community, the police learnt that there was no such custom and the deceased are usually cremated.
Venegaonkar also informed the court about statements made by the petitioner’s lawyer to the media that “the body was being buried so that it could be exhumed after the government changes.” Although the division bench of justices Revati Mohite Dere and Prithviraj Chavan disapproved of the statements, they clarified that the manner of disposing of the deceased was a matter of individual choice and no one else could have a say in it.
After the post-mortem and other formalities were completed, the police granted permission to Akshay Shinde’s family to perform his last rites. As he was a resident of Badlapur, they initially planned to hold the rites there. However, when this news spread, several Badlapur residents opposed it, prompting the police to halt the proceedings to prevent disruption of law and order. The police then searched for burial space in nearby Ambernath and Kalyan, but residents from those areas also opposed the move.
Regarding Anna Shinde’s complaint about the Ambernath Municipal Council refusing to allot space for his son’s burial, the civic body’s chief executive officer, Dr Prashant Rasal, said they had not received any orders from any authority yet to grant burial space.
He added that the municipality cannot grant permission for the burial of a person hailing from outside the city. “Considering the opposition from certain political parties, the municipality has denied them permission to conduct the last rites here,” Dr Rasal said.