PUNE — Hindutva leader Milind Ekbote has been barred from entering Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar from March 16 to April 5 amid calls from some outfits to remove the grave of Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb located at Khuldabad in the district.
The order, which was issued on Saturday by the deputy resident collector, said Ekbote’s organisation Dharmaveer Sambhaji Maharaj Pratisthan pays homage to the warrior-king annually in Pune and intelligence inputs were received about him and his supporters possibly coming to Khuldabad to demolish Aurangzeb’s tomb.
The district administration’s order said the views of several people on Aurangzeb’s grave has “gone extreme” after the release of the film “Chhaava” as can be seen from social media posts, PTI reported.
It added that the Vishva Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal have planned agitations from March 17 seeking demolition of the tomb.
“So the district administration is prohibiting the entry of Ekbote and his supporters into the limits of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar from March 17 to April,” the order stated.
Ekbote has been accused of instigating the caste riots that took place on January 1, 2018 in Koregaon Bhima in Pune district. He has also taken part in agitations to remove the tomb of Afzal Khan, the Bijapur general who was killed by Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in 1659. The tomb is situated in Pratapgad in Satara.
