The death of Akshay Shinde — the man accused of raping two four-year-olds in Badlapur — in police firing this evening is snowballing into a controversy ahead of the assembly elections in Maharashtra. Shinde was killed in retaliatory firing after he snatched the gun of a constable and opened fire on the police while being transferred from the Taloja jail to the Thane police station, the police said. The Opposition had questioned how a handcuffed man could snatch a gun, and alleged that it could have been an “encounter”. “Earlier, the Opposition parties demanded that Akshay Shinde be hanged,” said Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. “Now, they are taking his side and questioning the integrity of Maharashtra police. Such act of the opposition leaders is condemnable and unfortunate,” he added, explaining that the police shot him in self defence.Asked about the Opposition’s allegation that the accused was killed to gain political sympathy, Mr Shinde said these parties are rattled by the success of his government’s Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin scheme.”The Opposition raises questions on every issue,” said Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who holds the home portfolio.  “They (the opposition) had wanted him to be hanged. It is wrong to say such things when the police tried to save lives,” he added, while seconding the chain of events described by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. The Opposition had lost no time in attacking the ruling coalition after the death of the Shinde, who allegedly raped two nursery school students in the washroom of the Badlapur school, triggering outrage in the state.  Leader of Opposition in the assembly Vijay Wadettiwar questioned if it was an attempt to “destroy evidence”. “Were Akshay Shinde’s hands not tied by the police during the transit? How could he reach for the gun, and how come the police were so careless?” he said. There is no action against the “BJP-linked” school management but an arrested accused is shot dead in suspicious circumstances, he said. “We have no trust in Badlapur police,” he added, calling for a judicial probe. Veteran leader Sharad Pawar, who leads his faction of the Nationalist Congress Party, targeted the state home ministry. In a vernacular post on X, formerly Twitter, he said: “The laxity shown by the Home Department in transferring the main accused in this incident is questionable. It seems that the government has become weak”.Shiv Sena (UBT) spokesperson Sushma Andhare equated the incident with the gunning down of four rape accused in Telangana in 2019. “There too the police claimed it was done in self-defence. However, due to the deaths, the truth never came out. The same will be the case with the Badlapur sexual assault. Was Akshay Shinde killed as he was hiding something more sinister? Why is the school management still on the run,” she said.”It shows the state home minister’s inability to handle critical cases,” she said, demanding that Mr Fadnavis shed some light on these questions.