Those protesting death of Badlapur accused are part of 'tukde-tukde' gang, says Dushyant Gautam

New Delhi: BJP General Secretary Dushyant Gautam reacted to the intense political debate over the death of the accused in the Badlapur rape case, who was shot by police in retaliatory firing.

Akshay Shinde -- the prime accused in the sensational Badlapur rape case of two nursery school girls in August -- met a gory end in a police encounter after a gunfight with cops on Monday evening, sending shockwaves in political circles.

Responding to this, Gautam said, "If anyone takes the law in their hands, then the law will do its job, the police will do its job. But questions arise on those who are speaking on this, do they justify that the rapist of a 5-year-old girl should not be punished for his crime?"

"It is evident to me that they protest just for the sake of it. They will stand with the criminal, they will stand with the traitor, they will stand with the anti-national because it is their mindset and view," he told IANS.

The BJP leader asserted that those protesting the police action, which was carried out in self-defence, are part of a 'tukde-tukde' gang whose only focus is dividing the country.

"They are aligned with the 'tukde-tukde' gang. This is why it is in their heart to speak in support of criminals. However, under our governance, no criminal will be spared. If a criminal takes the law in his hands, the police will do its job," he added.

Earlier on Monday, en route, somewhere within the Thane Police jurisdiction, Akshay Shinde allegedly snatched a sub-inspector Nilesh More's gun and fired at him and self, but the other police personnel immediately returned firing, injuring him seriously.

Akshay Shinde was critically injured in the gun battle, while More sustained at least one bullet injury in the limb.

Despite being rushed to the Kalwe government hospital for treatment, Akshay Shinde succumbed, said Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis, confirming his death in firing by the police in self-defence.

The MVA leaders launched a blistering attack on the MahaYuti government and raised serious questions over the circumstances leading to the grim incident.

They unitedly demanded a probe by a Special Investigation Team or the CBI into the incident - which happened in the home district of CM Shinde - on a day when the Chief Justice of India, D.Y. Chandrachud, was in Mumbai for an official engagement.

The opposition bigwigs of Maharashtra vociferously sought to know "whether this was a planned conspiracy and an attempt to destroy evidence", protect those allegedly linked to the BJP-RSS in the sordid matter and wanted the case to be handed over to the CBI.

On August 12-13, Akshay Shinde had allegedly sexually assaulted two minor girls, aged 3 and 6, studying in the pre-kindergarten, at the Adarsh Vidya Prasarak Sanstha (AVPS) washroom premises.