Sambhajiraje Chhatrapati (born 11 February 1971) is an Indian politician, who served as the member in the upper house of the Parliament of India.
Violence broke out in Gajapur village, 3 km away from the fort, where his followers vandalized and ransacked several properties belonging to Muslim families.
[11] On July 14, 2024, Former MP along with hundreds of his supporters staged a march to the Vishalgad Fort where he had given a public call to end encroachments, which has a historical background.
The men, wearing saffron gamchas and wielding axes and bamboo sticks, entered the village and ransacked only those houses that belonged to the Muslim community.
[21] Following this the Kolhapur police on Monday lodged a case against over 500 persons including former Rajya Sabha MP in connection with disruptions during the call to free historic Vishalgad fort from encroachment in Kolhapur district a day before.The police have detained 21 persons and also booked Ravindra Padwal and Banda Salokhe in connection with the vandalism and violence.
[22] The violence left 6 civilians and 12 policemen injured while houses were set on fire and around eight to ten cars and over two dozen two-wheelers were damaged by the protestors, police said.
We have lodged a case against those who engaged in violence and ransacked a religious structure, set houses on fire, and damaged two and four-wheelers and shops.