Pune Police registers FIR against Bhima Koregaon accused Milind Ekbote, others of hate speech

Pune: The Pune police have registered a case against Bhima Koregaon violence accused right-wing leader Milind Ekbote, Hindu seer Kalicharan Maharaj and four others for allegedly making inflammatory speeches during an event and hurting religious sentiments, officials said on Wednesday.

The event, 'Shiv Pratap Din', to celebrate the killing of Mughal commander Afzal Khan by Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, was organised in Pune, Maharashtra by Ekbote's Samast Hindu Aghadi outfit on December 19.

According to police, the event was attended by Kalicharan Maharaj, Ekbote, Captain Digendra Kumar (retired) and others.

Capt Kumar is a Kargil war hero, who was awarded the 'Mahavir Chakra' for his acts of bravery in the Kargil war, said police inspector (crime) Harshavardhan Gade.

A case was registered on Tuesday against Kalicharan Maharaj, Ekbote, Capt Kumar and three others at Khadak police station under IPC Sections 295 (A) (deliberate and malicious intention of outraging religious feelings of any class), 298 (deliberate intention of wounding religious feeling of any person) and 505 (2) (false statement, rumour made in place of worship, etc, with intent to create enmity, hatred or ill-will), the officials said.

As per the FIR, all the accused allegedly made inflammatory speeches with an intention to hurt the religious sentiments of Muslims and Christians and to create a communal rift between people.

A police official said they registered the case suo-moto (on their own) after scrutinising video footage of the event.

Kalicharan Maharaj is also facing FIRs in Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh for allegedly using derogatory words against Mahatma Gandhi during an event in Raipur recently.

Ekbote is accused in the case of violence at Koregaon-Bhima in Pune district in 2018.