Aurangzeb grave row: Hindutva leader banned from Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar till April 5

The order said that intelligence inputs were received about Ekbote and his supporters possibly coming to Khuldabad to remove Aurangzeb's tomb.

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.

Milind Ekbote is the president of Dharmaveer Sambhaji Maharaj Pratishthan and Samasta Hindu Aghadi and Samasta Hindu Aghadi. (Ravindra Joshi/HT photo)

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 remove 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.

It added that the Vishva Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal have planned agitations from March 17 seeking removal 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.