Hindutva leader Milind Ekbote was assaulted near Saswad, on the outskirts of Pune city, on Tuesday night and a case was booked on Wednesday against more than 40 persons, believed to be “gau rakshaks” (cow protectors), in this connection, the Pune Rural Police said.
The controversial Mr. Ekbote, who heads the fringe right-wing outfit, ‘Samasta Hindu Aghadi’, has been accused of allegedly orchestrating the Bhima-Koregaon clashes that erupted on January 1, 2018.
The assault occurred at Zendewadi (in Purandar taluk) near Saswad, 27 km from the city a little after 9:30 p.m., said police sources.
Mr. Ekbote, who is also the western Maharashtra region head of a cow protection outfit called ‘Bharat Krushi Goseva Sanghatana’, had come for a function in Zendewadi, according to the Saswad police.
Facebook post
In a Facebook post, he had severely criticised the working of a cow shelter in Zendewadi run by one Pandit Modak. In his post, Mr. Ekbote allegedly accused Mr. Modak of corruption.
“After the function, Mr. Ekbote visited a nearby temple to eat prasad [religious offering]. It was then that a gang of men, allegedly on the instigation of Mr. Modak, attacked him and his group. Mr. Ekbote was roughed up, while three of his followers sustained minor injuries,” assistant sub-inspector (ASI) Balasaheb Jagtap of the Saswad Police Station told The Hindu .
Mr. Ekbote filed a complaint in the early hours of Wednesday against Mr. Modak and his men. He accused Mr. Modak’s men of attempting to knife one of his followers.
The police lodged an FIR against Mr. Modak and 45 others under sections 147 (rioting), 143, 149 (pertaining to unlawful assembly), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 295 (a) [deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion] of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
“This appears to an internecine feud between Ekbote’s supporters and Modak’s group of ‘gau rakshaks’. No arrests have been made so far, and further investigation is on,” Mr. Jagtap said.
Mr. Ekbote was arrested in March last year for having allegedly incited the rioting at Bhima-Koregaon and adjoining areas on New Year’s Day that left one person dead and several injured. He, however, was granted bail the next month by the Pune District and Sessions Court.
In January last, a local court lifted Mr. Ekbote’s restrictions on holding public rallies and speaking to the media, while relaxing conditions on mandatory appearances at the Shikrapur police station where a case of rioting had been lodged against him during the Bhima-Koregaon clashes.
However, the Pune Rural Police had issued prohibitory orders against Mr. Ekbote in a bid to preclude any law and order situation in Bhima-Koregaon village on the eve of the 201st anniversary of the battle, that peacefully concluded on January 1.
Protest against court relief
A number of Ambedkarite outfits and prominent leaders and activists across the country have expressed outrage at Mr. Ekbote’s relief granted by the court in connection the Bhima-Koregaon violence, while condemning the arrests and persecution of activists and intellectuals like Sudha Bharadwaj, advocate Surendra Gadling, Shoma Sen and others in this case.
In October 2001, the Hindutva leader had come under the police scanner in connection with a rioting incident in Saswad, following which the district authorities mooted action against him under the Maharashtra Prevention of Dangerous Activities (MPDA) of Slumlords, Bootleggers, Drug-Offenders and Dangerous Persons Act, 1981.
Dalit outfits have alleged that since the Saswad case, Mr. Ekbote had been embroiled in at least 27 cases of rioting.
