Police remove Aurangzeb poster, tension grips Belagavi

BELAGAVI: Tension prevailed in an upmarket residential area of Karnataka's Belagavi late Sunday night after police removed a poster of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb that described him as the "real founder of Akhand Bharat", reports Ravindra Uppar.

Some youths had installed a huge poster at Shahu Nagar Circle on Bauxite Road in the city late Saturday night. The poster referred to the longest-reigning Mughal emperor "as Sultan-e-Hind" on the occasion of his birth anniversary.

DCP (law and order) Rohan Jagadish told TOI they pulled down the poster on directions from Belagavi City Corporation. They registered an FIR against unidentified youths for installing the poster with an objectionable description.

BJP corporator Shreyas Nakadi claimed the installation of the poster was an attempt to disturb communal harmony, especially during festival time. "The miscreants succeeded in installing the poster despite police security. Since it's a communally sensitive area, a police van is parked there 24x7," he said, urging police to take action against the culprits.