PUNE: The Satara district administration in Maharashtra on Thursday demolished unauthorized structures that stood on government land around the tomb of Afzal Khan, a general of the Adil Shahi dynasty of Bijapur.
Khan was killed by Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj at the foot of Pratapgad Fort in the district in November 1659.
Subsequently, a tomb was built at the spot.
The demolition was carried out as per the High Court's order, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said, adding that it was a "proud day".
The demolition took place on the day Khan was killed by the legendary Maratha king in 1659.
It is observed as `Shivpratap Din' by some organizations in Maharashtra.
The action started in the early hours of Thursday amid heavy police security and it still going on, officials said.
Satara collector Ruchesh Jaiwanshi told PTI that unauthorized structures were spread over 15 to 20 gunthas of land (one guntha is equal to 1,089 square feet).
Some portion of the land belongs to the forest department while some parcels belong to the revenue department, he added.
"Today is a proud day for everyone as today is Shivpratap din. On this day, Afzal Khan was killed by Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj," deputy CM Fadnavis told Marathi newschannels elsewhere.
"In 2007, the court had ordered removal of the encroachment. In 2017, we started the process but some legal problems came up," he added.
"There were demands (of removal of encroachment) from `Shiv-premise' (Shivaji Maharaj's followers) but when they staged protests, cases were registered against them and the encroachment was never removed. Today, it is a matter of satisfaction for everyone that the entire encroachment has been removed," Fadnavis said.