Dalits groups protesting during the Maharashtra Bandh called over the Bhima Koregaon violence, in Mumbai. Pic/PTI

It was on a chilly afternoon on December 29, 2017 at the sleepy hamlet of Vadhu Budruk, some three km away from Koregaon-Bhima in Pune district. Some unidentified miscreants had gathered at the tomb of a local hero, Govind Gopal Mahar (Gaikwad), and defiled a worn nameplate at the site.