Cow vigilante bashed up by cow vigilantes

Right-wing activist and known cow vigilante Milind Ekbote was allegedly beaten up by some rival 'cow protectors' in the Zenewadi area near Saswad late on Tuesday night. Ekbote, who himself runs a 'Gau Rakha Abhiyan' and conducts raids, claimed that he was in Saswad to attend an event when the cow vigilantes — led by Pandit Modak who runs 'Gaushala' — came there and thrashed him and his supporters.

To that end, Ekbote lodged a complaint against 40 to 50 persons including Modak at the Saswad police station. According to the police, ironically, he and Modak had worked together in the past and had a falling out. Incidentally, Ekbote is also an accused in the Bhima Koregaon violence case.

Based on his complaint, Saswad police has registered a case of riots under section 146 and voluntarily causing hurt under section 323 of the Indian Penal Code, but no arrest has been made so far.

Inspector Annasaheb Gholap, in charge of Saswad police station, told DNA, "A few months ago, Ekbote had written a Facebook post against Modak's functioning at his Gaushala. So, when Modak learned that Ekbote had come to a temple in Zendewadi to attend a programme, he, along with some other cow vigilantes, went to the temple to demand an explanation."

He added, "There was friction between their supporters, but the police was also present at the temple and they immediately intervened to make sure that the situation does not go out of control."

EKBOTE’S CASE

Ekbote, who himself runs a ‘Gau Rakha Abhiyan’, claimed that he was in Saswad for an event when the cow vigilantes — led by Pandit Modak who runs ‘Gaushala’ — came and thrashed him.