Illegal structures built around Afzal Khan's tomb in Maharashtra demolished

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The Satara district administration on Thursday demolished unauthorised structures built on government land around the tomb of Afzal Khan, the commander of the Adil Shahi dynasty of Bijapur, a senior official said.

Afzal Khan was killed by Maratha king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj near the Pratapgarh Fort in Maharashtra's Satara district and a tomb had been built there in his memory.

The demolition exercise started in the early hours of Thursday amid heavy police bandobast and was still on, officials said.

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"The illegal structures such as pucca rooms, built around the Afzal Khan tomb premises, have been razed by the district administration," Satara Collector Ruchesh Jaiwanshi told PTI.

The action was taken as per orders of the High Court and directions given by the state government, he said.

"The unauthorised structure was spread on 15 to 20 guntha land (one guntha is equal to 1,089 square feet)," the official said.

Some portion of the land belongs to the forest department while some parcels belong to the revenue department, he added.

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