Milind Ekbote (right) outside the office of the local Crime Branch of the Pune Rural Police, after his arrest on Wednesday. (Express Photo by Sandip Daundkar)
A day after he was arrested by Pune rural police, Hindutva leader Milind Ekbote was remanded in police custody till March 19 by a special court in the city. Ekbote is accused of orchestrating violence in the villages near Pune on January 1. The violence had left one person dead and hundreds, including several police officials, injured. A team led by deputy Superintendent of Police Ganesh More produced Ekbote before Special Judge Pralhad Bhagure around 11 am on Thursday.
During the proceedings, police demanded Ekbote’s custody for 14 days. District government pleader Ujjwala Pawar submitted before court that the Hindutva leader’s custodial interrogation was essential to recover his cellphone, used at the “time of the incident”. Pawar said Ekbote’s custody was required to ascertain where he printed the ‘objectionable’ pamphlet that he distributed to media personnel at Sonai Hotel near Koregaon Bhima on December 30. Police said they want to seize the hard disc of the computer, on which the pamphlet was typed and printed.
Earlier, when Ekbote was questioned at the Shikrapur police station on February 23, he had told police that he had lost his mobile phone, and he hadn’t lodged a complaint as he didn’t have the receipt of the purchase. Defence counsel S K Jain, meanwhile, argued that police have questioned Ekbote four times. He said the Hindutva leader was not in Koregaon Bhima area on January 1 and was not involved in the crime.
“Police want his phone call details after January 1, which can be obtained from telecom companies. Ekbote has himself submitted the original copy of the pamphlet distributed at Sonai Hotel to police. There is nothing objectionable in it. So, minimum police custody should be given to him,” argued Jain.