The 23-year-old man accused of raping two nursery school girls in Badlapur, Maharashtra was shot dead by cops after he snatched a constable's gun and fired at a police officer, the police have said. Assistant Police Inspector Nilesh More was injured in the firing. Senior inspector Sanjay Shinde fired the final shot that took down Akshay. He died at the hospital.

Mr Shinde was part of a team led by Pradeep Sharma, the famed 'encounter specialist' who has featured in the Netflix docuseries 'Mumbai Mafia: Police vs The Underworld'. He was part of the famed cop's team when he headed the anti-extortion cell of the Thane Crime Branch, said sources.

This team had arrested underworld don Dawood's brother Iqbal Kaskar from Thane in an extortion case in 2017.

Mr Sharma was also the subject of a 2014 Marathi crime thriller named Rege. Veteran actor Mahesh Manjrekar had played Sharma's role in the movie. Author and journalist S Hussain Zaidi's 'The Class of 83' also delves into the encounters by Pradeep Sharma and other officers.

He was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment by the Bombay High Court earlier this year over the fake encounter of Ramnarayan Gupta, an alleged close aide of gangster Chhota Rajan in 2006.

Sanjay Shinde, who has previously served in the Mumbai Police, is now part of the Special Investigation Team that was formed by the state government to probe the Badlapur rape case.

He has earlier faced inquiry after Vijay Palande, an accused in two murder cases, fled police custody in 2012. His uniform was found in the SUV in which Palande had allegedly escaped. Another inquiry was opened against him when he exchanged fire with another cop after getting drunk at a bar, reports suggest.

In 2000, he came under the scanner in a kidnapping case, which was cracked after a senior official interrogated Mr Shinde, it was reported in 2012.

Badlapur Rape Accused Shooting

Akshay Shinde was arrested in August, five days after the children reported the assault to their parents. His shooting occurred yesterday when officers from Badlapur had gone to Taloja jail to take custody Akshay in a new rape and assault case filed by his first wife.

When the police team carrying Akshay neared the Mumbra bypass, he snatched the gun of a constable and fired at the cops escorting him. In retaliation, Sanjay Shinde fired at him. Akshay was critically injured in the firing and died at the hospital.

Constable Nilesh More, who also suffered injuries, is undergoing treatment.

The opposition, meanwhile, questioned how a handcuffed man could snatch a gun and alleged that the rape accused's death could have been an "encounter".

The Maharashtra government has formed a Special Investigation Team to probe the matter.