Pune right-wing activist Milind Ekbote beaten up by cow vigilantes

Right-wing activist Milind Ekbote was allegedly beaten up by some cow vigilantes in Pune district's Saswad town on Tuesday night. EKbote claimed that he had gone to Zendewadi area to attend a program when the cow vigilantes came and thrashed him and his supporters. 

Ekbote lodged a complaint against 40 to 50 persons including one Pandit Modak who runs 'Gaushala' in Saswad. Ekbote himself is known for supporting cow vigilantes and according to police, he and Modak had worked together in the past.

Ekbote is also one of the accused in Koregaon-Bhima 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 Indian Penal Code (IPC) but no arrest has been made so far. 

Inspector Annasaheb Gholap, in charge of Saswad police station, told DNA, "Few months back, Ekbote had written a post against the functioning of Modak at his Gaushala on his Facebook page. When Modak learned that Ekbote had come to a temple in Zendewadi to attend a program, he along with some other cow vigilantes went to the temple."

"When Modak and his supporters were demanding an explanation to Ekbote, there was friction between supporters of Ekbote and Modak. The police also present at the temple and they immediately intervened to make sure that the situation does not go out of control," Gholap said.

After the incident, Ekbote reached the Saswad police station and lodged a complaint against Modak and his supporters.

Ekbote has been claiming to have undertaken 'Gau-Raksha Abhiyan' or the cow protection campaign where his supporters have conducted various raids. He was attacked in the past as well.