To protect, mosque tries to lock Aurangazeb's tomb; ASI shuts it

Aurangabad: Following an incident of a mosque committee trying to lock the tomb of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, the Archeological Survey of India (ASI) shut the monument for five days, PTI reported.

"Earlier, the mosque committee tried to lock the place, but we opened it. On Wednesday, we took a decision to shut the tomb for the next five days," ASI's Aurangabad circle superintendent Milan Kumar Chauley told PTI. "We will review the situation and then decide to open it or to keep it closed for another five days," the official added.

Recently, the Maharashtra Navanirman Sena spokesperson Gajanan Kale had asked why the monument should be protected in the state and added that it should be destroyed.

After his statement, a mosque committee in Aurangabad's Khultabad area, where the tomb is located, tried to lock the monument while it was under the protection of ASI. ASI also dep[loyed additional security guards at the monument premises.

Earlier this month, AIMIM leader Akbaruddin Owaisi had visited the tomb, and the incident had irked many. The ruling Shiv Sena in the state and Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena ha criticized the same. Meanwhile, NCP chief Sharad Pawar reacted to the developments a few days later Owaisi's visit that his visit was to create a new controversy in Maharashtra, where things are running peacefully.