Shinde was killed near Mumbra Bypass in Thane on Monday evening when he allegedly snatched the gun of a police personnel while being ferried in a police vehicle.

Amid the opposition’s attack against the Maharashtra government over the killing of Badlapur sexual assault case Akshay Shinde in an 'encounter', Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said that the police fired in self-defence.

Akshay Shinde, accused of sexually abusing two girls in the school where he worked as an attendant, was being taken to Badlapur from Taloja jail for investigation when he snatched a policeman’s gun and fired at an assistant inspector when the police vehicle reached Mumbra bypass.

Speaking to the media about the Badlapur rape accused's killing, Devendra Fadnavis said that police officers opened fire to protect themselves after the accused snatched a cop's weapon and opened fire at them.

Akshay Shinde, arrested for sexually abusing two girls at a school in Badlapur town of Maharashtra's Thane district, fired at a policeman and was injured in retaliatory firing. He was being taken to Badlapur from Taloja jail for investigation. He was declared dead by the hospital later.

Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde defended the police shooting of Akshay Shinde, the accused in the Badlapur sexual assault case, as "self-defence," while the Opposition called it an "encounter", demanding a judicial probe.

The opposition leaders asked if Akshay Shinde was killed to destroy evidence in a case that had triggered national outrage.

Opposition parties have targeted the state government, especially Home Minister Devendra Fadnavis, after the accused in the Badlapur child sexual assault case, Akshay Shinde, fired on police and later was shot by the police during the scuffle The accused later succumbed to his injuries.