The Supreme Court will tomorrow hear the anticipatory bail plea of right wing activist Milind Ekbote, accused of instigating violence between two communities at Bhima Koregaon in January this year.
The Supreme Court will tomorrow hear the anticipatory bail plea of right wing activist Milind Ekbote, accused of instigating violence between two communities at Bhima Koregaon in January this year.
The Pune rural police have prepared a detailed report after interrogating Ekbote which they will be submitting in the Supreme Court.
After his anticipatory bail plea was rejected in local court as well as in the Bombay High Court, Ekbote had approached the Supreme Court where which granted him interim relief from arrest till March 14.
The court had also pulled the state government for not taking enough efforts to arrest Ekbote.
After getting pulled up by the Supreme Court, the Pune rural police summoned Ekbote for questioning at Shikrapur police station on February 23. That was the first time Ekbote was questioned by police after the case in connection with rioting at Bhima- Koregaon was registered against him. He was further questioned four more times in connection with the case, police told DNA.
Additional Superintendent of police Sandeep Pakhale told DNA, "We have questioned Ekbote five times in connection with the Bhima- Koregaon case. Based on this questioning, we have prepared a detailed report which we will be submitting in the Supreme Court on Wednesday."
According to officials, the police will be seeking his custody as Ekbote is not cooperating during the questioning. "We will be requesting the court for Ekbote's custodial interrogation," Pakhale said.
Bhima- Koregaon and adjoining villages witnessed violence between two communities on the first day of the year when large number of Dalits were gathered at the historic memorial in the village to commemorate 200th anniversary of a battle.
Dalit groups had accused Ekbote and another right wing leader Sambhaji Bhide for instigating violence during bicentenary celebration of the Bhima-Koregaon battle in which the forces of the British East India Company defeated the Peshwa s army.
Dalit leaders commemorate the British victory, as it is believed soldiers from the Mahar community then considered untouchable were part of the East India Company s forces. The Peshwas were Brahmins, and the victory is seen as a symbol of assertiveness by Dalits.
Following the violence, Dalit organisations had called for a Maharashtra bandh, which also witnessed several incidents of stone pelting in several parts of the state, including Mumbai. Following the violence, police registered a case against Milind Ekbote and Sambhaji Bhide in connection with the violence.
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 "Milind Ekbote has been questioned by Pune police 5 times")
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