Tension Grips Kalyan After Durgadi Fort Entry Dispute; BJP Corporator Detained Amid Protests and Heavy Police Deployment

The police detained Mahesh Patil and deployed heavy security across sensitive locations in the Lal Chowki area as tensions escalated. Barricades were installed on all three roads leading to the fort, with a large police force positioned to prevent further escalation of unrest.

The dispute is centred on the Durgadi Fort complex, where a temple and a mosque exist in close proximity. According to long-standing practice, during Eid al-Adha prayers, entry of Hindu devotees to the temple is temporarily restricted, and Islamic prayers are offered on the road leading to the fort. However, this year members of both Shiv Sena factions opposed the arrangement, demanding unrestricted access to the temple during the prayer period.

Police officials confirmed that the temple remained closed for approximately 30 minutes during the morning prayers, after which protests broke out near the fort. Workers of the Shiv Sena (UBT), led by party functionary Vijay Salvi, staged a demonstration in the Lal Chowki area, performing a grand ritual worship protest and a bell-ringing demonstration. Protesters carrying saffron flags and bells assembled near the fort, demanding uninterrupted access to the temple.

Following the conclusion of prayers, members of the Muslim community raised slogans, while groups from Hindu organisations recited the Hanuman Chalisa near the site, further intensifying tensions in the area.

Mahesh Patil was detained after he warned the administration against permitting road-based Islamic prayers and restricting Hindu devotees’ entry into the temple. He had earlier stated that Bharatiya Janata Party workers would recite the Hanuman Chalisa and Durga Stotra if access to the temple was blocked.

The Durgadi Fort issue has remained a politically sensitive flashpoint in Kalyan for decades and is closely associated with the late Shiv Sena leader Anand Dighe, who served as a mentor to Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. In 1986, Dighe launched a bell-ringing agitation against restrictions imposed on Hindu devotees during Eid prayers at the fort, a tradition that Shiv Sena workers have continued annually at the site.

The latest confrontation underscores the enduring communal and political sensitivities surrounding the Durgadi Fort complex, where religious practice, historical legacy, and contemporary political rivalries continue to intersect, keeping the region on edge.