By Our Special Correspondent
PUNE—The Pune district and Sessions court has granted ad-interim anticipatory bail to Hindutva leader Milind Ekbote in connection with two FIRs registered against him at Kondhwa police station for alleged objectionable comments.
Additional Sessions Judge GP Agarwal granted bail on a personal bond of Rs 15,000 and surety of like amount on the condition that Ekbote will not tamper with evidence and cooperate with the investigating agency as and when required.
Ekbote had filed the anticipatory bail application through advocate SK Jain and Amol Dange.
While granting the bail, the judge stated, “Upon perusal of the FIR, it transpires that there is delay in lodging the FIR. The applicant has only brought to the notice of the fact about the construction of Haj House under the name of Civil and Cultural Centre upon the land which is in the possession of Pune Municipal Corporation and which cannot be carried out as per the verdict of Hon’ble High Court, Bombay and the Hon’ble Apex Court as per GR dt. 05/11/2016. All the alleged offences are triable by Court of Magistrate. Applicant is ready to co-operate the investigation machinery. In the alleged set of facts narrated in the complaint, the custodial interrogation of the applicant is not necessary at this stage.”
In a video that has surfaced on social media, Ekbote opposed the Pune Municipal Corporation’s decision to allot money and land for building Haj House in the Kondhwa area.
“Pune Municipal Corporation’s decision to build Haj House in Kondhwa is unfortunate. The decision of the PMC will endanger the life of the people, the central intelligence agency’s report says Kondhwa is ‘Mini Pakistan’ and it has a sleeper cell of terrorists and under the grab of building a cultural place, the administration is violating the Supreme Court’s order which restricts building a religious place without approval from the administration,” Ekbote purportedly said in the video.
One FIR has been registered based on a complaint from Satish Kale of Sambhaji Brigade and another case is registered based on a complaint from social worker Shahsagil Mohiyudin Siddiqui.
