Pune: The Pune sessions court on Monday rejected the anticipatory bail application of Hindutva leader Milind Ekbote who is accused of orchestrating the violent clashes in Bhima-Koregaon village on New Year’s Day which left one person dead.
Quashing Mr. Ekbote’s bail plea, Special Judge Prahlad Bhagure observed that the violence during the bicentenary celebrations of the battle of Bhima-Koregaon on January 1 was “a grave matter” and that Ekbote faced “very serious charges against him”.
With this, the Hindutva leader, whose whereabouts are ostensibly unknown, faces arrest.
On January 18, Mr. Ekbote’s lawyer, Chintamani Ghate, submitted an application seeking anticipatory bail.
According to Mr. Ekbote’s counsel, the Hindutva leader could not have been present at the time of the clashes as he had been under police protection for several days.
Two FIRs were lodged against Mr. Ekbote — who is executive president of the fringe Hindutva outfit called the ‘Samasta Hindu Aghadi’— and the octogenarian Hindutva leader Sambhaji Bhide ‘Guruji’, who heads the fringe outfit Shiv Pratishthan Hindustan.
An FIR in Pimpri against the duo was registered by Anita Ravindra Salve, a member of the Bahujan Republican Socialist Party while another criminal case was lodged against them in Auranagabad. Both cases have been transferred to the Shikrapur police in Pune district.
Recently, a report prepared by a coordination committee comprising Dalit leaders to assist the police in their probe submitted evidence asserting that the violence was a well-planned conspiracy.
A mob of 1,500-2000 strong comprising of Hindutva activists believed to be the followers of Mr. Ekbote and Mr. Bhide was believed to have gathered on January 1 in Sanaswadi near Bhima-Koregaon with the objective of wreaking havoc and disturbing the peace of the occasion, alleges the report.
