The parents of Badlapur sexual assault accused Akshay Shinde, killed in an alleged encounter with the police, told Bombay High Court on Thursday that they no longer wanted to fight the case concerning his death.

Shinde’s parents made the appeal before a division bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Neela Gokhale, which is hearing their petition related to their son’s custodial death, filed by Shinde’s father Anna Shinde alleging that the police killed his son in a fake encounter.

At the end of the proceedings on Thursday, the couple approached the bench and said they were no longer keen on pursuing the case and wanted it to be closed. The couple also said they were under no pressure from anyone and had made the statement on their own.

Akshay Shinde (24) was accused of sexually assaulting two minor girls inside the washroom of a school in Badlapur town of Thane district last year. The former attendant at the school was subsequently killed in an alleged encounter with the police while being transported from Navi Mumbai’s Taloja prison to Thane for questioning.

A magisterial inquiry report submitted to the court last month held five police personnel — senior inspector Sanjay Shinde (Thane crime branch), assistant inspector Nilesh More, head constables Abhijeet More, Harish Tawade and police van driver Satish Khatal — responsible for Shinde’s death.

In his report, submitted in a sealed cover, magistrate Ashok Shengde noted that the “contention raised by the police personnel of right to private or self-defence comes under a shadow of suspicion” owing to evidence and other circumstances.

Advocate Amit Desai, appearing for Maharashtra, sought the HC’s direction on Thursday to access some material considered by the magistrate for the inquiry into the alleged encounter.

He told the court that the material was not with the police as the magistrate had recorded the statements of witnesses separately. The police investigation into the matter is not over and they are in a better position to analyse the material, Desai told the court. The matter will be heard further on Friday.