OBC Activist Manhandled by Maratha Protestors in Pune; 25 Booked

Pune: OBC activist Laxman Hake was allegedly manhandled and verbally abused by members of the Maratha community in Pune, and a video of the incident surfaced on social media, police said on Tuesday.

A case has been registered against 25 people for the attack that occurred near Kondhwa on Monday night, an official said.

A video that surfaced on social media showed people from the Maratha community protesting against Hake, claiming that he was drunk and had verbally abused some of them.

"We have registered a case against 25 people under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita for abusing and manhandling OBC activist Laxman Hake, and the matter is being probed," a senior official from Kondhwa police station said.

The official said protestors brought Hake to the police station and demanded that he undergo a medical test, alleging that he was in an inebriated state.

The activist was taken to the Sassoon General Hospital under heavy security late last night, he said.

"Hake was ready to undergo the test, as he wanted to clear the allegations against him. The test results will arrive in two days, and depending on it, we will take necessary action," the official said.

Meanwhile, Hake claimed that there was a conspiracy to kill him and said the police were probing into the allegations levelled against him.

Last week, Hake and his fellow OBC activist Navnath Waghmare suspended the fast they had undertaken in Jalna to “safeguard” quota for the Other Backward Classes after Maratha quota agitator Manoj Jarange called off his indefinite hunger strike.

Jarange has been seeking reservations for the Maratha community under the OBC category.