FIR registered against six for encroachment on Rajgad fort

PUNE: The Directorate of Archaeology and Museums has filed an FIR against six individuals following repeated incidents of encroachments on the Rajgad fort premises and issued notices to few others for selling water bottles at the historic site.

Dr Vilas Wahane, assistant director, State Directorate of Archaeology and Museums, told TOI, "These individuals were found setting up stalls within the fort premises and engaging in cooking activities with the intention of selling food items to visitors despite multiple warnings. We approached the Velhe police with a written complaint because earlier warnings had yielded no result."

"We later visited the Rajgad fort with the police personnel and found that contrary to regulations governing protected monuments, these individuals were using gas stoves and gas cylinders," he added.Wahane said encroachments were becoming an issue in some forts. Recently, a similar problem had occurred in Sinhgad fort, after which encroachments were removed. "The FIR was lodged against six people found cooking on the fort premises and notices were issued to others. The FIR was lodged under Section 283 of IPC, which pertains to obstruction in a public way," Ranjeet Pathare, assistant police inspector, Velhe, said.

Sachin Joshi, an archaeologist from Deccan College, said, "There is an increasing incidence of such encroachments in some forts in the state. Panhala and Vishalgad forts are also facing these issues. Rajgad fort has special importance because Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj had spent a significant portion of his lifetime there. Such encroachments cannot be allowed in such monuments of national importance."