SC orders Maharashtra DGP to pick SIT

The Supreme Court on Monday accepted the Maharashtra government's demand to get director general of police Rashmi Shukla to pick the special investigation team (SIT) to probe the encounter killing of Akshay Shinde, the arrested accused in the Badlapur school sexual assaults case.

- Prateem Rohanekar

MUMBAI: The Supreme Court on Monday accepted the Maharashtra government's demand to get director general of police Rashmi Shukla to pick the special investigation team (SIT) to probe the encounter killing of Akshay Shinde, the arrested accused in the Badlapur school sexual assaults case.

The apex court modified the Bombay high court's order asking Mumbai crime branch chief Rashmi Gautam to constitute the SIT. The high court had also asked Gautam to register an FIR against the five policemen involved in the encounter and had picked the officers to investigate the case. The high court was acting on Shinde's father Anna Shinde's petition, which alleged that his son was killed in a fake encounter for political reasons and sought an independent probe into the incident.