Pune (PTI): The Satara district administration on Thursday demolished unauthorised structures built on government land around the tomb of Afzal Khan, the commander of the Adil Shahi dynasty of Bijapur, a senior official said.

Afzal Khan was killed by Maratha king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj near the Pratapgarh Fort in Maharashtra's Satara district and a tomb had been built there in his memory.

The demolition exercise started in the early hours of Thursday amid heavy police bandobast and was still on, officials said.

"The illegal structures such as pucca rooms, built around the Afzal Khan tomb premises, have been razed by the district administration," Satara Collector Ruchesh Jaiwanshi told PTI.

The action was taken as per orders of the High Court and directions given by the state government, he said.

"The unauthorised structure was spread on 15 to 20 guntha land (one guntha is equal to 1,089 square feet)," the official said.

Some portion of the land belongs to the forest department while some parcels belong to the revenue department, he added.

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Yellapura (PTI): At least eight persons were killed and 10 others sustained injuries when the truck in which they were travelling fell into a 50-metre-deep valley near here in the wee hours of Wednesday, a police officer said.

The victims, all fruit vendors, started from Savanur and were heading towards the Yellapura fair to sell fruits. They were traveling on the Savanur - Hubballi road when the accident occurred in a forested section, the Uttara Kannada Superintendent of Police M Narayana said.

"Around 5:30 am, the truck driver in a bid to give side to another vehicle went to the extreme left and fell into an about 50 metre deep valley," Narayana told PTI.

He added that there was no protection wall in the road in the valley.

"Eight persons were killed on the spot and two got critical injuries. The injured have been shifted to the KIMS Hospital in Hubballi," the officer said.