Bhima Koregaon clashes: Anticipatory bail plea of Ekbote rejected

An FIR was registered at the Pimpri police station by activist Anita Salve on January 2. Later, another FIR was lodged at the Yerwada police station by activist Sushma Andhare. Both complaints were then transferred to the Pune Rural police for further investigation.

Milind Ekbote (left) and Sambhaji Bhide (right)

A special court in Pune on Monday rejected the plea for anticipatory bail filed last week by Milind Ekbote, who is facing charges of inciting violence at Bhima Koregaon. Two First Information Reports (FIRs) were registered against Ekbote and Manohar, alias Sambhaji, Bhide by Dalit activists, alleging their role in the violence at Koregaon Bhima when lakhs of Dalits had assembled at the ‘Jaystambh’ in Perne village on the Pune-Ahmednagar road to mark the 200th year of the Battle of Bhima Koregaon.

An FIR was registered at the Pimpri police station by activist Anita Salve on January 2. Later, another FIR was lodged at the Yerwada police station by activist Sushma Andhare. Both complaints were then transferred to the Pune Rural police for further investigation.

Ekbote and Bhide have been booked on charges of inciting violence, attempt to murder and atrocities against Dalits.
Ekbote’s lawyer Chintamani Ghate had filed the application for anticipatory bail before special judge Prahlad Bhagure. The court, however, rejected the bail plea.

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Meanwhile, the Pune rural police have intensified the search for Ekbote. Police are questioning activists and supporters of the Samasta Hindu Aghadi to know his whereabouts. Following a dispute over erecting a board on Govind Gopal (Mahar) Gaikwad at the Vadhu Budruk village, clashes between Dalits and Marathas had erupted in Bhima Koregaon and adjoining villages on January 1, leaving one person dead and several others, including 10 policemen, injured.

About 200 vehicles, including police vans and fire tenders, were damaged in the violence. Gaikwad, a 17th century Dalit, according to Mahar accounts, defied Emperor Aurangzeb’s orders and carried out the last rites of Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s son who was tortured to death in 1689. The samadhi or tomb of Gaikwad is near the complex which has the samadhi of Sambhaji Maharaj.

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