Milankumar Chauley, ASI’s Aurangabad circle superintendent, confirmed that the tomb had been closed for five days from Thursday at the request of the mosque committee and the police.
Digital Desk: The Archaeological
Survey of India (ASI) shut down Mughal emperor Aurangzeb’s tomb in the
Aurangabad district of Maharashtra for five days after a mosque committee in
the area tried to lock the place on Wednesday, officials said.
On Tuesday, the Maharashtra Navnirman
Sena (MNS) spokesperson Gajanan Kale in a tweet, questioned the need for the
monument’s existence in the state and said, ‘it should be destroyed’.
Kale’s comment came after AIMIM
leader Akbaruddin Owaisi’s visit to the tomb earlier this month was criticised
by the ruling Shiv Sena and the BJP and the Raj Thackeray-led MNS. While BJP
leaders demanded Owaisi be booked under sedition charges, NCP chief Sharad
Pawar wondered if such an act was aimed at creating a new controversy in
Maharashtra, which has been peaceful.
Subsequently, security at the
ASI-protected monument site at Khuldabad in Aurangabad district was increased
by the Aurangabad rural police and the ASI to avoid untoward incidents, and
proper screening of every person was being done.
However, the mosque committee
requested authorities to close the tomb for a few days along with the police,
following which the ASI took a decision.
Milankumar Chauley, ASI’s Aurangabad
circle superintendent, confirmed that the tomb had been closed for five days
from Thursday at the request of the mosque committee and the police.
An official of the Aurangabad rural
police said, “The situation at the monument site is under control and no
untoward incident has taken place. However, the tomb has been closed to
tourists as a precautionary measure.”
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